Naruto Mission Adventures
by megasean3000
Summary: After the death of Kakuzu, the village has gone back to normal. So now the four teams will be going back to missions. How will the twelve handle the new missions? Comment, if you want.
1. Introduction

Introduction

Okay, this is something I've been planning for weeks. I still don't have a firm blueprint of the details, but I should be okay.

Alright, here's the main synopsis of this fanfic that you got curious into looking into: It will be a variety of missions with the twelve Shinobi of Konoha. (Naruto, Sakura, Sai, Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Neji, Tenten and Lee + the Jounin.) Now, I know Shippuuden is a very turbulent series, but these events take place after Naruto and Shikamaru defeat Hidan and Kakuzu, and before Sasuke kills Orochimaru. Why? Well first There is nothing that connects the two, one after the other. Sasuke doesn't need to kill him directly after Naruto defeats Kakuzu. Second, if you'll notice, when Shikamaru talks with Kurenai over Asuma's son/daughter, her stomach is tiny, meaning she's only a few weeks/months pregnant. But before Naruto goes off to Sage train, Kurenai looks as though she'll give birth any second. My point is, I doubt the Jiraiya Vs. Pein and Sasuke Vs Itachi events take place there and then, and are in fact spaced out at a length of time. Either that or pregnancy rules are different in the Naruto Universe. (I'm sorry for all the spoilers. Please don't sue.)

Okay, there are a few points for all the fanfic crazy Narutards out there. All the characters here are in their character. Naruto is not a psycho and Sakura is not a schoolgirl. I have thousands of favourite pairings, NaruSaku especially, but there will be no pairings in this fic. There will be cute fluffy moments to suggest it, but there will be no kissing, no lemons and no Yoai. OCs will be in this, but serve only as background characters, and will be lucky to be in two chapters, and are not Mary Sues/Gary Stus, and will not marry the main characters. Oh, and one more thing, it is highly unlikely Sasuke will be in this fic, unless by dream or vision. If you are still interested, you are a true Narutard. If not, then press your Back icon, and continue searching for your fantasy pairings like SasuSaku, GaaSaku DeiSaku or something like that. Sorry for being slightly harsh, but when your surrounded by nonsensical pairings and/or stories, it kinda drives you to the brink of insanity. Well, now I've let off some steam, it's time to continue my little introduction.

Now where was I? Ah, Shippuuden is a very fast-paced and hard going series in Naruto. Meaning, with all the threats of Akatsuki, Sasuke and Orochimaru, the writers forgot to explore the characters of Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Neji, Tenten, Lee, Ino and Choji. (Shikamaru already had his time.) So, this is a perfect opportunity to tweak the character's abilities slightly. Want Tenten to have swords and axes? Want Shino to fuse with a bug to make a 50-foot spider? Then you can ask and have your ideas on an actual fanfic...if your not into fanfics yourself. And any other ideas. The Naruto fillers took a huge chunk of quality missions that I could use, so if you got any mission ideas, don't be afraid to contribute. And who knows? If you wanted a stupid pairing like DeiSaso are something, and make a quality suggestion, I might even add the pairing in for a breif moment. (Fangirls screaming heard from a distant mile.)

So, that's all I have to say for my introduction. Now, enough of my jibber-jabber, time for Naruto and his friends to shine once again. 


	2. A Fresh New Start Bring on the Missions

**A Fresh New Start - Bring on the Missions!**

It was only a few days after Naruto had defeated the enigmatic Akatsuki member known as Kakuzu with his now-forbidden Wind-Release Rasenshurken, that his after-wounds were beginning to heal. Sakura, one of Naruto's best friends, was now checking-up on Naruto's hand. It was doing fairly well, considering his hand should have been torn off from his own attack.

"Alright, Naruto. Your hand's doing good. But just like what the Hokage says, no using Rasenshuriken." Ordered Sakura in a firm voice. Naruto scoffed.

"All that training, all those Shadow Clones, wasted. I really despise Grandma Tsunade sometimes." Groaned Naruto. Sakura gave him a little nip, making Naruto yelp.

"That "Grandma" happens to be my master." Snapped Sakura. "And she forbid it for a reason, Naruto. Keep using it, and your arm's cells are gonna get ripped apart." Naruto flinched at those harsh words. He never knew this kind of Jutsu could be so deadly, to his opponent and himself. Sakura performed one last healing Jutsu on Naruto's hand, and ended the treatment. "Done. Now with that out of the way, I got a message from the Hokage."

"Eh? What kinda message?" Asked Naruto.

"Just to come down to her mansion when I finished healing you."

"More news on Akatsuki?" Naruto said solemnly.

"I dunno. Possibly." With that, Naruto put his orange and black sweater on and raced to the Hokage's tower, with Sakura in hot pursuit. Tsunade was talking with Kakashi, in the Hokage's Tower, with Shizune beside her, when Naruto and Sakura barged in.

"Your message?!" Naruto yelled. Tsunade sighed as well as their Sensei.

"Okay, Kakashi. Good luck with the mission." Declared the Hokage.

"Don't I always do?" Asked Kakashi. Then he took his marching orders and left, while giving Naruto a favoured look. He left with a gentle slam of the door. Tsunade began to pile on her notes and looked at one in particular.

"Now Naruto. I have some business with you to discuss. You might as well join us, Sakura." Declared Tsunade. Naruto fully walked in with Sakura beside him.

"Business? What kinda business?" Asked Naruto expectantly.

"Mission business, of course." Naruto could feel his heart beat. If this was another Akatsuki mission, it'll be one step closer to finding Sasuke. "We need you on regular missions." Naruto yelled with surprise, his hopes were crushed at this phrase. Naruto jumped up, in rage on the Hokage's table, eye-to-eye with the Hokage.

"Regular missions?! You can't be serious, Grandma!! I was sitting here kicking Akatsuki butt, and you want me back to plain old regular missions! No way, I refuse!!" Yelled Naruto, in rage. Tsunade sighed, and flicked Naruto away, colliding with Sakura, getting both clearly mad.

"It wasn't a matter of asking, you little brat. The same is going for everyone of the ninja in your year group. Now if you don't mind, allow me to explain." Naruto took his time in calming down, and listened to what the Hokage had to say. "Now, you remember the times when you and your ten buddies went on missions together?" Naruto thought back to all the missions he shared with the ten former Genin. He nodded confusedly. "Well, after you left to train with Jiraiya, the mission success rates for the remaining ten was shot to a low level."

"What?! So everyone was failing there missions?!" Naruto screamed. Sakura looked away in embarassment. Shizune then spoke up.

"Not all the time, Naruto. Before you left, the success rate was 90. Meaning for every ten missions, one would fail. But after you left, it fell to 60. So, instead of 1 mission being failed, 4 missions would fail. The 55 were completed by either the ANBU or the Jounin."

"But how's that possible?! Everyone of my friends would never fail their missions!" Yelled Naruto.

"It was because you weren't there." Tsunade continued. Naruto flinched. "Without your Rasengan, Shadow Clones and not-giving-up speeches, everyone couldn't complete their missions with their high morale. You were everyone's backbone." Naruto gasped loudly, then looked away in remorse.

"I guess leaving was a bad idea afterall."

"You said it, Naruto." Sakura mumbled.

"But, thankfully, you're back. And with your morale support, the success rate will be back up." Said Tsunade delightfully.

"But what about the Akatsuki?! We can't just leave them to continue killing more innocent lives!" Exclaimed Naruto.

"No, we can't. But our latest sources indicate that the Akatsuki are starting to settle down again. It seems your Rasenshuriken gave them a little fright." Tsunade said. Naruto sniggered behind his teeth, while resting his arms behind his head.

"So that means it's not a forbidden Jutsu anymore, right?" Sniggered Naruto. And at once Tsunade's smile faded.

"I never said that!" Shouted Tsunade. And with that, Naruto's smile faded also.

"Uggghhhh! My beautiful Jutsu!" Groaned Naruto.

"Now we're not here to discuss lifting the ban on your Jutsu. Right now, we've got C and D rank missions to accomplish." Said Tsunade. And at that instant, the door knocked. "Come in!"

And at the door emerged Sai and Captain Yamato, Team Kakashi's latest editions. "You called for us, my lady?" Asked Yamato.

"Yes, Captain Yamato. As I was saying to Naruto and Sakura here, with Akatsuki silent again, you and the other teams will be doing regular missions again. You, Team Asuma, Team Kurenai and Team Gai will be doing normal missions until we hear news of Orochimaru or Akatsuki." Declared Tsunade.

"Normal missions?" Asked Sai. "Isn't that a little boring?" Both Naruto and Sakura groaned at this.

"Your reaction's same as Naruto's. But yes, with Naruto back in the Hidden Leaf Village, I believe the four teams' mission success rates will rise, therefore increasing our relationships to other nations." Said Tsunade.

"Looks like there's no changing your mind, huh, Grandma?" Asked Naruto.

"Nope."

"Ugggh, fine, fine." Groaned Naruto.

"Put it this way, Naruto," Said Yamato. "it gives you a chance to catch up with your friends you hardly know anymore."

"Yeah, guess so."

"Alright!" Said Tsunade. "For now, there're no missions, so you can go back." With that the others left. Naruto and Sakura walked together out of the Hokage's tower.

"I can't believe Grandma Tsunade!!" Yelled Naruto. "Sending me back on normal missions, it's almost insulting!"

"Calm down, Naruto!" Complained Sakura. "Obviously with the Akatsuki down, the Hidden Leaf's gonna be quite quiet for a while now. And besides, weren't the missions we had before you left fun enough for you?" Naruto gaped.

"Ugh, no. It was fun, Sakura. But with all the fights with the Akatsuki, I don't wanna stop until they're all gone."

"Well don't worry. Be patient and do your missions, and eventually, one of the Akatsuki'll show themselves." They had now arrived outside Sakura's house. "Now don't try and do anything stupid, not until we start getting missions, at least." Sakura went inside her house after waving Naruto goodbye. Naruto then decided to go have some lunch at Ichiraku Ramens. He was grumbling to himself while eating his noodles. Then someone sat next to him. It was Iruka.

"Hey, Naruto." Said Iruka in his usual cheerful way.

"Hey, Iruka-Sensei." Said Naruto, trying to sound cheerful.

"You don't look too good. Something wrong?"

"Argh! Grandma Tsunade's making us go back on regular missions."

"So? Isn't regular missions good?"

"It's not that. I was just so used to fighting those Akatsuki jerks..." But Iruka interuppted.

"That you just want to keep going, right?"

"Yeah! Yeah!" While Naruto was saying this, Ichiraku handed Iruka a bowl of ramen. "When we're back walking dogs and planting flowers, I just wanna...grrrr!" Naruto let his rage out by drinking the rest of the ramen soup.

"Hey, it's not just D-rank missions we're going on. It's also the Bs and As. And it's not the end of the world when you occasionally get a few D-ranks." He then took a big whip of noodles and took a bite on it.

"So what you're saying is I should be patient and wait for Akatsuki to show up? 'Cus if it is, too late, Sakura told me."

"No, Naruto. I'm saying treat all your missions like challenges. Every challenge you do will bring you closer to facing Akatsuki." Naruto took a while to think about it, and finally got himself together.

"Good advice, Sensei! Yo, Ayami! Another bowl of ramen please!"

"Coming right up, Naruto!" Replied the daughter of the shop. Eventually, after Naruto had finished, Sakura had called him for a mission from the Hokage. Soon, Naruto, Sakura and Sai were on a D-rank mission to find a piece of lost jewellery in the middle of the meadow. Naruto merely smiled.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Yelled Naruto, and with his hand seal, he called on a thousand Shadow Clones that scoured the grass along with Sakura and Sai, until a Clone found the gold ring.

"Way to go, Naruto!" Cheered Sakura.

"Challenge complete!" Naruto said. When they returned with the ring, the client paid up. Next the trio had to plough some fields. With Sai's ink-lions, Sakura's super strength and Naruto's Shadow Clone force, the task was almost too easy. Soon after doing another D-rank mission, night grew in and the trio were treating themselves to ramen.

"You really have grown to the whole D-rank missions, huh, Naruto?" Said Sakura.

"Yup!" Said Naruto happily. He took another mouthful of noodles.

"You never wanted to do them. So why are you so happy in doing them?" Asked Sai, in his oftenly polite way.

"Why not? Just 'cus I don't wanna do them, doesn't mean I don't wanna complete them." Said Naruto with his mouth full of ramen.

"Glad your getting into it." Said Sakura happilly.

Then Naruto said: "Well, it's a fresh new start."


	3. A Princess in Need

**A Princess in Need**

Naruto had just returned from another D-rank mission walking an old lady's dog. It was too easy for his tastes. He was now debriefing with Tsunade. Both were in the Hokage's chamber with Shizune behind Tsunade in her desk.

"Mission accomplished, Grandma!" Yelled Naruto in triumph. Tsunade smiled.

"You're getting on good with the missions." Tsunade replied, ticking off the mission on her mission log book. Naruto groaned.

"Not really. I'm getting kinda bored with the D-ranks. Can't we up the ante with a C or maybe even a B-rank?"

"Sorry, Naruto. Missions come when they come. And because we got no calls from other countries, we've only got D-ranks for a while." Naruto growled.

"What I wouldn't give for a more challenging mission!"

"I'll let you know when one comes up. You're dismissed." Naruto was making his way out of Tsunade's mansion, he turned a corner and banged into someone, knocking both over.

"Ow! Hey watch where you're g-" Naruto snapped, but he couldn't finish his sentence, for he just discovered that the person he ran into was a beautiful blonde haired girl around Naruto's age, with silk robes and wooden sandals. She looked up on Naruto.

"I-I'm dreadfully sorry..." The girl said, that sounded almost like a whisper. Naruto just realised what he was about to say.

"Oh, no, no, no! I guess it was kinda my fault. Hahaha." Naruto said, giving a witty laugh at the end. Naruto then took the honours of helping the girl up.

"I-Is this the Hokage's tower?" Asked the girl silently.

"Yeah. If your looking for Grandma Tsunade she's the top floor. Can't miss her, she's the one that looks like a bat." Said Naruto. With this the girl giggled.

"Is the Hokage your grandmother?" Asked the girl.

"Nah. I just call her that cus she's an old hag." Naruto said while relaxing his arms at the back of his head.

"I...I don't mean to be rude, but I must hurry and..."

"Oh, right. Go right on." Naruto signalled her to the stairs, as she fled up them. "Nice girl" Naruto thought. Later, Naruto had just had ramen and was wandering the Hidden Leaf aimlessly, until he ran into an old friend: Rock Lee.

"Oh, hey Lee!" Said Naruto cheerfully. "Long time no see."

"It is also a pleasure to see you too, Naruto." Said Lee in his usually strange voice. "But now's not the time for idle chat!"

"Eh? How come?"

"The Hokage has requested you for a mission." With this, Naruto's eyes gleamed.

"Well, why didn't you say so?!" Naruto yelled, then raced to the Hokage's tower, with Lee, seeing this as a race, raced him to the tower. They arrived inside the Hokage's chambers, trying to mask their fatigue. Inside was the Hokage, Shizune, Tenten and Neji.

"Your mission?!" Asked the both.

"Ah, Lee, Naruto, just in time." Said Tsunade. She rustled through her notes. "Now Team Gai, and Naruto, we've got an A-rank mission on our hands!" Naruto gasped in surprise.

"Woohoo!" Cheered Naruto, punching his hands in the air, almost hitting Lee. "I knew it was a big one but not an A-rank! You're the best, Grandma!"

"Alright, knucklehead, let her explain!" Yelled Tenten, stopping his dancing.

"Thank you, Tenten. Now as I was saying, a princess from a neighbouring Kingdom in the Land of Griffins has come to the Hidden Leaf village for a desparate situation. After the death of her father and mother, the King and Queen, she tried to visit her uncle in the neighbouring Kingdoms, but before she could see her uncle, an assassin almost claimed her life." Tsunade explained. The four gasped.

"Who could've been involved in the assassination of a princess?" Asked Neji.

"We don't know. But as a final resort, she fled to the Hidden Leaf, and is now asking for Shinobi to escort her safely to her Kingdom and protect her for her coronation, after that she should be safe." Explained Tsunade.

"_Could that girl..._?" Thought Naruto.

"Alright! Naruto, Neji, Tenten and Lee! Your mission is set! Escort the princess back to her Kingdom, and eliminate anyone who tries to assassinate her!" Exclaimed Tsunade.

"Yes, ma'am!" The four shouted while giving a salute. As soon as the four left, Tsunade smiled.

"Now we can see just how good our little Naruto's gotten." Tsunade said with a smirk. Naruto had prepared his things, such as reloading on Kunai and Shuriken, packing sleeping bags and all other provisions. Then he met up with the three teammates at the village's main gate, with a battered down old merchant cart with a long purple curtain covering the contents within.

"What the heck's up with that old thing?! Are we escorting a circus or a princess?" Naruto joked. The three sighed.

"It's a defence mechanism, Naruto." Explained Neji. "Assassins will look for the princess in every royal carriage in the land, and unsuspecting of the princess in a merchant's cart. The biggest problem we'll have to face are bandits and thieves."

"And I can take them on with one hand behind my back!" Lee said proudly.

"Ohhhhh." Naruto said understandably, finally realising the meaning behind the cart.

"You might as well say hi to the princess, while we tell Izumo and Kotetsu to open the gates." Said Tenten, while him and Neji went to the patrolmen's box, where the two guards were situated. Naruto nodded and peered through the cart curtains.

"Yo, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'll be escorting you..." Naruto began, but as he had his head bowed, the princess gave a small giggle. Naruto looked up to see the same girl he met at the Hokage's tower. "WHAT?! You're the princess?!"

"Why seem so surprised, Naruto Uzumaki? Princess Emiko, here to be escorted." She said in her peaceful tone. Naruto was gobsmacked.

"But, but, but...! You're a princess?!" Asked Naruto with a look of absolute shock.

"Of course. I thought you would have known." After that Naruto looked on in confusion.

"Nope, I didn't know." Naruto said with embarassment. Then Neji called out to Naruto.

"Naruto! We're leaving now! Help us to push the cart!" Yelled Neji from behind the curtain.

"Well, it was nice seeing you again. And it'll be an honour guarding you...er.. your highness..." Naruto said confusedly at the end. He wasn't at all used to talking to royal people.

"And it is an honour being guarded by you." Emiko said with a gentle smile. And at once, Naruto took his leave and helped Lee pull the cart along, with Neji and Tenten positioned at the cart's sides. And the mission had begun as the gates were opened and the five had left the Hidden Leaf Village. Every ten minutes, Neji used his Byakugan to survey the area around them, to spot out any suspicious people, while every twenty minutes, Naruto switched with Tenten and vice-versa, Lee on the other hand was hardly getting tired at all. Eventually, the sun began to set as they were walking along the forest edge. Naruto had just switched from pulling-the-cart duties with Tenten again and was positioned at the left side of the cart, when he heard Neji call to them.

"Everyone!" Called the Jounin. Everyone's attention fell on him. "I've picked up two enemy ninja headed this way!" Lee and Tenten dropped the cart and went to Neji, and Naruto followed afterwards. The four prepared themselves in the road ahead, and sure enough, there were two ninja swiftly approaching.

"Get ready!" Called Lee. As they prepared themselves. Naruto had a Shadow Clone ready to use a Rasengan. Lee had gotten into his fighting stance. Neji had his Byakugan on and Tenten had weapon scrolls ready to shred them. Eventually, the two ninja came with a swift jump. Neji had expected the two to be far away from there.

"They're fast!" Thought Neji. The two made their attack on Tenten, using a double kick to knock her against the cart, knocking her out.

"Tenten!" Yelled Lee, as he swirled to attack the two with a Leaf Hurricane attack, but one blocked the attack, and the other punched Lee away. Neji then jumped to the two, and was blocking and attacking their attacks with his Gentle Fist attack. And because of his Byakugan, he easily seen through the attacks they made on him. But his luck ran out, as he hit one with his Gentle Fist right to the chest. He flinched at his luck, making the other strike him down with another punch.

"Looks like it's all up to me!" Yelled Naruto, and at once, his Shadow clone had prepared a Rasengan ball to attack the two. He then jumped up and was ready to attack. "Rasengan!!" But when he was about to strike one, the other intercepted the attack, by kicking Naruto's arm away, leaving the other to attack Naruto with a kick to the head. All four of them had been severely injured.

"Too easy" Said one of the Ninja. Then the two malicious ninja headed to the cart. They pulled away the curtains with their Kunais ready. But when they seen the contents within, they were shocked to see nothing, and nobody.

"What?!" Exclaimed the second. But what they didn't know, was that the entire cart was lined with paper bombs from the inside, and was ignited as soon as the two had separated the curtains. And then, the cart had exploded, sending the two ninja crashing along the path, severely wounded.

"What? But I never set that trap!" Neji said, while he was regaining his consciousness.

"Nope, but I did." Said Naruto with a jeer. Tenten and Lee had also gotten up from being beaten up.

"But, how?" Asked Tenten.

"I knew something bad was gonna happen so I took the princess out of the cart and lined it up with paper bombs. It was kinda risky leaving her out in the open, and it may've cost us the cart, but 'least we found some of the guys that were trying to kill the princess." Explained Naruto.

"Where is the princess now?" Asked Neji. Naruto gave a whistle and Emiko came from beneath a bush.

"Is it safe, Naruto?" Asked Emiko.

"Yup. We got the guys that were trying to kill you." Said Naruto delightfully. And over on the other side were the two ninja severely weakened from the blast.

"Were those the two that tried to assassinate you last time, your highness?" Asked Lee.

"Yes. They're two ninja of the Hidden Sound Village." Said Emiko. Naruto smirked. He would've guessed ninja from that village would do something dispicable. Neji then dragged both of them to a tree, and Tenten tied them to it with strong wires.

"They won't be escaping any time soon." Said Tenten happily. Neji then grabbed one of the Sound ninja by the collar.

"You will tell us who hired you, now!" Said Neji in his usually calm way.

"Think again, half-pint! I ain't tellin' you nothin'!" Said the ninja who was grabbed. Lee then walked over in an evil sort of manner towards the evil assassin.

"You have two choices on your hands, ninja assassin!" Began Lee with an evil voice, that would never be expected from him. "Either you answer our questions willingly, or I shall put you under the worst Genjutsu alive, to extract the information!"

"Genjutsu?" Said Naruto confusedly. Since Lee didn't specialize in Genjutsu or Ninjutsu, he knew it was a bluff. But did the ninja know?

"Shhh!" Hushed Tenten.

"Heh! Your bluffing! You would've done it without warning me!" Said the ninja.

"It consumes a chunk of Chakra. I prefer not using it. For your sake more than mine." Continued Lee. "It will be like a living death. You will undergo so much pain, that you will be begging to die when it's over!" The assassin was now fearing if he was bluffing or not. Then Lee performed a few hand seals. And when Lee was about to call the name, which would be the end of his bluff, the assassin cracked.

"Alright, alright! I'll tell you everything! Just call that squirt off!" The ninja yelled. Naruto almost laughed at Lee for the almost perfect bluff.

"Good." Said Neji. "Now I'll ask one more time. Who hired you to assassinate Princess Emiko?"

"It was a man called Kagai." Said the Sound ninja. At that Emiko backed off and looked on the verge of fainting.

"Emiko. You okay?" Asked Naruto. But then, Emiko ran up and grabbed the ninja by the neck.

"You lie!" Screamed Emiko. It was almost heart-breaking to hear a girl with such purity scream in an angry manner.

"I think I know the guy who hired us." The ninja said. "Told us if we killed you, he'd pay handsomely." The sound ninja said enough, and with his final effort, pushed a switch in his jacket, which released a poisonous gas. Naruto pulled Emiko away just in time and the other three avoided it. But the two Sound ninja took in the gas, and died in it's midst. Obviously they didn't want to give more information.

"A desperate act for a Sound ninja." Said Lee in remorse. But Emiko kneeled to the ground in the deepest remorse.

"I can't believe Kagai would do something like that!" Screamed Emiko with tears in her eyes.

"Errrr...Emiko. Who exactly is this Kagai guy?" Asked Naruto.

"He's my brother." All four of them gasped deeply.

"Why didn't you say so? Otherwise we would've preppared for the mission with more caution." Said Neji in urgency.

"I never knew he was the one trying to assassinate me." Said Emiko.

"But why was he trying to kill you?" Asked Tenten. "I know for a fact siblings don't kill other siblings for no reason."

"Because I am the rightful heir to the throne." Said the princess. "I was supposed to be queen of my Kingdom while Kagai was supposed to be the next in line. Father chose me to be the rightful heir because I am just and pure. On the otherhand my brother is corrupt and evil. If my brother inherited the throne, my father's Kingdom will be a breeding ground for criminals and other vile people. As the next in line, I cannot let that happen to my father's Kingdom."

"You realise if we must proceed with our mission, we must kill your brother. Until you are queen, we must eliminate all who try and kill you ." Said Neji.

"Ehhhh?! Neji, you can't be serious!! It's her brother we're talking about, not some crazy lunatic ninja!!" Naruto yelled at Neji. Emiko simply waved Naruto down.

"It is alright, Naruto. If it means securing peace to my Kingdom, then my brother must be eliminated." Emiko said with anguish in her voice.

"Well we must get to your Kingdom immediately if we want to confront this evil menace!" Lee said nobly.

"It will be dangerous now that we have no cart to cover your appearance." Neji said.

"Yeah, the cart was a perfect cover." Naruto said sarcastically.

"Well, I do not mind the walk. Being carried around is not how I want to arrive in my Kingdom." Said Emiko. And so the five set off. They kept a formation of Naruto, Neji, Lee and Tenten around Emiko. Neji had his Byakugan in full effect. Now that the situation had worsened, they had to take extra precautions. Eventually after a while of walking, and night had settled in, the five had arrived at a ridge.

"My Kingdom should be at the other side of this ridge." Explained Emiko. She quickened the pace up the rocky hill. And when they arrived, there eyes befell a large town in which at the center was a large castle.

"Whoa! Your place is huge!" Exclaimed Tenten.

"Yeah! It makes the Hidden Leaf look tiny!" Said Naruto.

"It will all be my brother's if we do not hurry to my castle and deal with him." Said Emiko.

"We cannot attract too much attention. Doing so may alarm Kagai. We must kill him with stealth." Explained Neji.

"Right!" Said Naruto, Lee and Tenten together.

"So we must leave Emiko behind." Neji said. Naruto flinched at this statement.

"What?! How come?" Naruto bellowed.

"She will only distract us on our task ahead. If we head into conflict, we will have to fight out and protect the princess simultaneously. She must remain here where it is safe." Neji said. Naruto groaned.

"You're really starting to bug me, Neji." Said Naruto. With that, the four hid Emiko behind a nearby rock, which shielded her from the Kingdom's sight. Then the four Leaf Ninja took off. Within seconds they were at the castle walls. There were two guards at the castle gates. So the four used the traditional method and climbed the wall using their Chakra to walk the walls. Eventually they made it up the wall and ran inside the inner castle.

"Alright, split up." Whispered Neji. "Tenten, Lee, find Kugai in any other rooms. Naruto and I will check the throne room."

"Right!" Said the two as they headed down one corridor and Naruto and Neji headed down the other.

"Heh. Gotta admit, not bad for a Jounin." Naruto smirked.

"Yeah? Your not doing too bad yourself. For a Genin." Neji replied. Naruto fumed but continued nonetheless. They eventually found the royal throne room. Neji surveyed the room with his Byakugan, and sure enough, Kugai was inside. Or at least, someone was sitting on Emiko's throne. They heard a banging of a door from behind, and both hid behind separate tapestries. Just in time, for a horde of guards were making their way into the throne room, escorting what they believed to be prisoners. And on closer inspection, they seen the prisoners to be Lee, Tenten and Emiko. Naruto gasped. Emiko had her hands tied behind her back, while Tenten and Lee had their wrists clamped in irons and had metal collars locked to their necks, in which one guard of each held a rope tied to it. Naruto could understand how Emiko had captured, but how he wondered, did Lee and Tenten get captured.

"_'Says Emiko'll be fine hiding. Man! What a jerk_!" Thought Naruto. He peered carefully to see Neji, who indicated to Naruto. And at once, both used a Transformation Jutsu to imitate the guard's uniforms, and secretely both joined the regiment of guards escorting the prisoners, into the throne room. The set of guards, Naruto, Neji and the three prisoners were then presented to the mysterious man. The guards threw the three to the ground, so that they were kneeling down. It pained Naruto to see his friends be submitted to cruel actions.

"Traitors to the throne, my liege!" Said one of the guards. And with that, the enigmatic man stood up from his throne, causing the guards to kneel. Naruto and Neji almost blew their cover by not kneeling, but got the message when the others did, and kneeled in conjunction.

"Kagai!" Said Emiko with spite in her voice. "You are a lowly worm for taking the throne!" Kagai laughed slightly, and walked to the three.

"Nice work, Captain. Now my reign will be complete." Said Kagai in a menacing sort of way, that gave Naruto chills down his spine.

"You monster!" Retorted Emiko. "How would the council let you go to the throne when they know of your corruption?!" Kagai gave a snort.

"That's simple." Replied Kagai. "Because I killed them." Emiko gasped deeply. "And taking the throne will be easy, with you dead."

"You will never get away with this!"

"And who is going to stop me?!" Kagai yelled in victory. Neji nudged at Naruto who was beside him. And with that, both deactivated their Transformation Jutsu and presented themselves.

"We can!" Naruto said with rage.

"Naruto! Neji!" Lee yelled in surprise. Kagai however was unfazed.

"Kill them." Kagai ordered calmly. The guards circled the two, pointing spears at them.

"Do not take lightly a member of the Hyuga Clan!" Neji said while his Chakra began to build along with activating his Byakugan. "For it will be your downfall!" He then got into a fighting stance, and prepared his signature Jutsu. "Eight Trigrams! Sixty-Four Palms!" Then, Neji struck nearly all the guards, with lightning swift attacks, that almost seemed like it occured in one second. Afterwards, Neji paused, and all the guards around them fell.

"Good one, Neji!" Cheered Naruto. "Now let's get that Kagai guy!" Both of them raced to Kagai and stared him down head on.

"You have one chance, fiend!" Began Neji. "Surrender the throne to the princess, and you shall not be harmed!" Kagai smiled evilly.

"You're a fool to challenge me!" Kagai growled. "I have been trained in your ninja arts, and am far superior to you!"

"Save it! We're gonna take you down now!" Yelled Naruto. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto then called on many clones to his aid. "Neji! Go free the princess and the others! While I handle this guy!" The Naruto army charged, while Neji proceeded to freeing his comrades. But with a few hand seals, Kagai was ready for him.

"Swiping Strike Jutsu!" Yelled Kagai, and with a wave of his hand, the many Naruto's were blown away by a strong Jutsu, and puffed away in a ball of smoke, and the real Naruto crashed to the ground.

"Enough, Naruto!" Demanded Lee, as Neji finally freed him, along with Tenten and Emiko. "It is time my Taijutsu is put into some use!" And with that Lee charged to Kagai and attempted to kick his head, but Kagai ducked, and performed the same Jutsu on Lee, knocking him against a pillar.

"Lee!" Cried Tenten. "You've done it now!" Tenten jumped up, reeled out her giant scroll, bit her thumb, and spread the blood on the paper. Then, a mass array of assorted weapons, hurled themselves at Kagai. "Avoid that!" She then landed on the ground with a soft tap.

"Hmph!" Snorted Kagai. And using his Jutsu, he swiped the air, which then repelled the weapons back at Tenten. The dangerous weapons, like the swords, didn't hit her vital points, but she got many cuts from it, and some Kunai and Shuriken hit her shoulders and legs, severely weakening her.

"Tenten!" Yelled Neji. "It's all up to me!"

"You'll do no good against my powers!" Said Kagai in victory. On saying the last of his words, he fired two lightning sharp attacks from his Jutsu. Neji didn't have to move to know they missed. And instead of waiting, Neji charged. But little did Neji know, the previous attacks that missed, circled around Neji, and struck him down from behind, colliding with Kagai. "You're pathetic." Then Kagai grabbed Neji by the neck and tossed him aside. Leaving only him and Emiko conscious. He approached her calmly, and confidently. And on the way, he picked up on of Tenten's summoned swords.

"How dare you!" Emiko said in disgust.

"Your comrades have fallen. And once I kill you, father's Kingdom will be all mine!!" Kagai yelled valiantly as he raised the sword up. Then the malicious ruler struck for Emiko. With her eyes closed, she expected the pain to be quick and merciless. But she never felt any pain. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see someone had intercepted the attack. It was Naruto. He caught the sword with both his hands, saving the princess from harm.

"I hope you didn't forget about me!" Naruto said with rage.

"Naruto! What are you doing?!" Screamed Emiko with worry, over the sight of Naruto's bleeding hands, due to the sword seeping into his skin.

"Saving your life and your throne!" Naruto replied. "Now!!" Both Emiko and Kagai was confused by this order. But the confusion was quelled when they seen three Naruto's charge towards Kagai. The one holding the sword vanished, for it was a Shadow Clone. The three charged, while two focussed a chakra ball into the real one's hand.

"_Rasenshuriken might be forbidden, but Wind-Release Rasengan isn't_!" Thought Naruto. The Chakra Wind-ball was ready, and the two clones raced on ahead. The two jumped up to either strike Kagai, or at least hold him down for Naruto's Jutsu to be successful. But the two Shadow Clones fell to Kagai's superior Jutsu. But while his hands were busy occupying the Clones, Naruto was already right in front of him. And with his Jutsu already in effect with the clones, he was wide-open for the full sting of the attack.

"Wind-Release Rasengan!!" Called out Naruto as he plunged the Wind ball into Kagai's chest. And upon impact, Kagai yelled in pain, as wind swept the entire throne room, and Kagai was shot backwards with full force towards the throne, which completely oblitererated it, because of the force of the momentum. Emiko was dumbfounded by Naruto's strength, as Naruto emerged victorious. He was heavily panting, since the Jutsu still required a lot of Chakra. But it was worth it in the end. He approached the now-destroyed throne to see the now deceased body of Kagai. He seen the wounds inflicted on Kagai: along with the standard wound to the chest, many of his body parts were severely scratched, mainly because of the winds slicing abilities. This seemed to be the pinnacle point of his training. And he still had a Jutsu which was even stronger, yet forbidden. However, upon seeing the dead body of Kagai, Naruto felt remorseful.

"I'm sorry, Emiko. Even though he tried to kill you, he was still your brother." Said Naruto sadly. He was never the type of person to shatter bonds between people.

"There is nothing to apoligize for, Naruto Uzumaki." Replied Emiko. And after that she smiled happily. Naruto seen this and smiled back. In the end, he knew he completed the mission, just like what Emiko wanted. A few days later, Naruto, Neji, Lee and Tenten were there for Emiko's coronation to become queen. After watching one of the Kingdom's officials place the crown on Emiko's tender head, that was the moment that ensured the team's mission success.

"Our job is done here." Said Neji when the celebrations had started.

"Awwww! But I wanted to stay for the celebrations!" Whined Naruto. Then Emiko presented herself to the four. Her clothes were now that of a queen, involving a more fashionable kimono, her hairstyle was in a bun, and only made her more beautiful. And on top of her head was her glorious crown.

"You are leaving?" Asked Emiko, in her soft gentle voice.

"Yeah, we gotta go report to our old bat of a Hokage." Said Naruto in his usual disrespectful way.

"Naruto!" Whispered Tenten in a threatening sort of way. "You shouldn't speak like that in front of a queen!"

"Oh yeah!" Said Naruto, instantly remembering who he was speaking to. Emiko smiled.

"It is fine." Said Emiko gently. "If that be the case. Then I wish you all the best fortunes for the future." Neji, Tenten and Lee bowed respectfully, and Tenten had to drag Naruto down to make him show his respects. She smiled further. "And thank you all for your efforts in restoring my Kingdom." She went on. And with that, the four departed back to the Hidden Leaf Village.

"Well, grandma Tsunade had the right mind getting me back. If it weren't for me, you guys would be dead." Said Naruto, while walking along the path.

"Yes, we know this Naruto." Said Neji grudgingly.

"I must admit, you did splendid out there, Naruto. You really have improved." Lee said admiringly.

"Hehehehe! I know!" Naruto said proudly with his arms resting on the back of his neck.


	4. Coming on Strong

**Coming on Strong**

Late in the night, the forest surrounding the Hidden Leaf appeared quiet. A few owls hooting, squirrels jumping over trees, and nothing out of the ordinary. On the outside, nothing was happening, but inside, there was a lot going on. A group of four ANBU were in hot pursuit of a rogue ninja. The ninja being pursued, was a tough rugged man wearing ragged clothes, over six-foot tall and biceps like boats. He was literally running for his life, in a state of panic that would suggest he was being chased by a ghost. Eventually, the ninja was cornered by four more ANBU who intercepted his running, and now was cornered by all eight, high on the treetops.

"We've got you now!" Exclaimed one of the male ANBU with a handful of Shuriken ready. "Don't move, and we'll end it quick!" The ninja looked hysterical at this point, which was shown by his heavy breathing, and insanical look.

"...leave Kyojin alone...!" Yelled the ninja. And at that point, he started to growl wildly like a dog. The eight were confused at first, but shocked at the conclusion of the growling.

Later, Kakashi Hatake was doing his patrol of the forest, making sure nothing was on the loose.

"Well, it looks like nothing's out of the ordinary, at least nothing that risks the Hidden Leaf Village. One more mile and I'll..." Kakashi began, but couldn't finish the statement. "What in the..." Kakashi looked down on the undergrowth of the forest below him to see what looked to be a massacre. He grabbed on to a branch on a tree nearby and backflipped down to investigate. Eight ANBU were seriously injured. Their armour almost completely destroyed, their animal masks slightly cracked, and bruising appearing on most of their body parts. Kakashi was certainly stunned by this scene. "What on Earth happened here?!"

Morning broke over the Hidden Leaf Village swiftly the next morning. Naruto had just awoken when there was a sharp knock on his door. He quickly got into his usual attiire and opened his door to reveal Sakura.

"Hey, what's up Sakura?" Asked Naruto, trying not to sound tired. Considering it was nearly eleven in the morning, Sakura would only scold him for getting up so late.

"Tsunade's got a mission for you." Proclaimed Sakura. Naruto grinned and ran with Sakura to the Hokage's mansion. In Tsunade's main office were Shizune, Shikamaru, Choji and Kakashi.

"Yo!" Cheered Naruto, as soon as the two arrived. "What's the mission, Grandma Tsunade?"

"Good timing, Naruto. I was just about to explain the mission details." Tsunade began. "But first, you should probably hear this." Tsuande waved to Kakashi to begin. Naruto, Shikamaru, Ino and Choji listened closely, while Sakura took her place next to Shizune.

"Thank you, Lady Tsunade." Said Kakashi calmly. "Now, in the late hours of last night, I found two teams of high-ranked ANBU, severely injured. They had many bones fractured, and one is in a critical condition." The five gasped deeply.

"Who could've done that?" Asked Shikamaru thoughtfully. At that Tsunade flanked four photographs in front of her desk. The four analyzed these pictures carefully. The contents revealed different images of a rugged brute of a man with torn apart clothes and muscles bigger than any they've seen.

"His name is Kyojin." The Hokage announced. "A rogue ninja in quite a number of bingo books from here to the Hidden Sand Village. He came from a village that trains day in and out, but only to defend their village, and never took sides on wars. He was declared a rogue ninja because he was believed to be not meeting their standards of training. That was five years ago."

"What?! He was kicked out just for THAT?!" Naruto yelled in bemusement.

"You can get kicked out for anything, Naruto." Said Kakashi. "Tsunade could very well kick you out for being so annoying." That immediately made Naruto gasp. Tsunade chuckled to herself from the thought.

"Of course, that's brushed aside from your good mission efforts." Tsunade smiled. But then got serious again. "Now, down to the mission details. Your job is to track down this Kyojin, and eleminate him with caution."

"But why are we trying to kill him? I thought rogue ninja were nothing to worry about." Asked Naruto.

"Because he's a threat to everyone." Said Shizune. Naruto was confused further.

"Akatsuki, Naruto." Said Ino. Naruto gasped in shock. "Akatsuki get their ninja who run away from their villages. If they get their slimy claws on this Kyojin guy, he can pummell everyone in two seconds flat." Naruto fully understood and was raren to go.

"Alright, where do we find this guy?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"The massacre happened in the southern part of the forest. My ninja hounds managed to track his footsteps heading West." Kakashi explained. Naruto slapped his hand with his fist with excitement.

"Alright, West is where we'll go!" Yelled Naruto.

"Hold your horses, Naruto!" Tsunade said, piping down the over-eager ninja. "We haven't finished yet."

"You'll need a guide to track down Kyojin." Said Kakashi. Then Kakashi bit his thumb, performed a few hand seals, and placed his hand on the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!" And with a puff of smoke, a small ninja dog by the name of Pakkun appeared.

"Hey, what's up, Kakashi?" Said the dog in his usually gruff manner.

"Escort these four to the rogue ninja you were tracking last night." Kakashi said. "When you find him, you can go."

"Oh, great. Not him." Whined Shikamaru. The dog gave him a cold stare that made Shikamaru quiet.

"Alright! Naruto, Shikamaru, Ino and Choji!" Began Tsunade. "Your mission is set. But don't do anything reckless. This ninja is not to be trifled with." Shikamaru nodded. And the four left with Pakkun to prepare.

"Do you think Naruto can beat this guy?" Asked Sakura. "I mean, if eight ANBU couldn't, what chance does he have?" Tsunade smirked.

"You must have more faith in your teammate, Sakura." Tsunade said, looking at her worried face. "Don't worry. I've assigned Naruto with the three best ninja that can slow even me down. If that makes you feel any better." Sakura only looked on the door that Naruto passed and gave a gentle smile.

The four ninja and ninja dog arrived outside the gates. Pakkun smelled the air around him.

"He should be this way." Said Pakkun, as him and the others took off into the forest.

"Do you even have a plan to fight this guy, Shikamaru?" Asked Choji with doubt in his voice.

"Dunno. I make my plans during the fight. We don't know much about how this guy fights. Could be Taijutsu. Could be Earth style Ninjutsu." Shikamaru said while jumping along the trees. "Sometimes bulky guys, like him, concentrate their Chakra to their arms, heightening their power. If that be the case, Ino's our best attacker, with her expertise in Medical Ninjutsu, she can severe his arm's nervous systems, rendering him useless." Ino nodded in agreement. "But we dunno for sure, which is the troublesome part. So, that's where Naruto comes in." Naruto raised his eyebrows in wonder.

"Huh? What can I do?" Asked Naruto.

"Hmph, you'll see." Shikamaru said. The five raced on for half an hour or so, until Pakkun smelled the air again.

"Heads up, guys! He's close!" Warned Pakkun. Then the five hid in the branches and surveyed the area. There was a man sitting at the bottom of a tree, breathing heavily. The four made him out by his biceps. "You guys are on your own for this one." And with that Pakkun puffed away.

"It's him!" Whispered Ino. On closer inspection, he was growling insanely.

"Guess he's all brawn but no brain." Shikamaru mumbled. The giant, who was called Kyojin, continued to growl.

"Grrr...cruel ninja! They no understand Kyojin! Grrrr!" Kyojin growled, with a gruff voice.

"Hey!" Kyojin heard a voice call up to him. And Naruto had summoned four Shadow Clones to surround the giant. "Alright, big guy, your going down!" Yelled Naruto. And all four charged.

"Leave...Kyojin...ALONE!!" Yelled the giant. And punched all four at once, with one swing. The four puffed away, as Shikamaru analyzed it.

"Grrr. That was no good! Couldn' tell if it was Taijutsu or Earth Ninjutsu." Shikamaru groaned.

"Where are you...strangers!" Yelled Kyojin, giving a few growls. And then he kicked the tree the four occupied, instantly knocking it down, while the four landed in a bush. Naruto got up instantly.

"You want some, big guy?! Well come and get it!" Yelled Naruto. He charged on his own, but before he could attack, Kyojin smacked him away, colliding with a tree.

"Stupid boy!" Yelled Kyojin. But before he could charge to finish Naruto off, he froze. Looking down, he seen he was caught in Shikamaru's Shadow Possession Jutsu.

"Now, Ino!" Called Shikamaru, as Ino prepared her medical Ninjutsu to damage Kyojin's muscles. She charged to the giant, to perform her Jutsu.

"Ninjutsu...no good...on me!" Barked Kyojin, as he was fighting back the Shadow Possession. Shikamaru groaned as the Shadow Possession subsided from Kyojin's force.

"Ino! Get out of there!" Yelled Shikamaru. But too late, Ino took a direct punch from Kyojin. She gave a scream of pain, but before she hit the ground, Choji caught her with his Partial Expansion Jutsu on his arm. He placed her on the soft grass and prepared for Kyojin. "What's up with this guy?! He clobbered Naruto's Shadow Clones in one go, and fought back my Shadow Possession. He's not using any kind of Jutsu. Just plain old punches. On top of that, he's that strong that he can fight back my Jutsu." But before he could think, Naruto had already prepared his Rasengan and charged for Kyojin.

"Rasengan!!" Yelled Naruto. He was about to lunge the ball of Chakra into Kyojin, but the giant caught the Rasengan ball with his bare hand and crushed the ball easily, and kicked Naruto away, knocking him out.

"Now what?! He crushed Naruto's signature move!" Shikamaru thought. He looked at Kyojin's hands which appeared untouched. "Not everyone survives Rasengan easily." But instead of heading to Choji or Shikamaru, Kyojin walked away.

"Kyojin wish not to fight. Stay away from Kyojin, and you live." Kyojin said while walking away. Shikamaru cursed to himself, but despite Kyojin's lack of brains, he did have a point. Shikamaru and Choji couldn't win without Ino or Naruto. The two watched helplessly as Kyojin dashed away, like a bear denied a piece of meat. So Shikamaru and Choji rested up, conserving their Chakra, while seeing to Naruto and Ino's wounds. They had severe wounds to the head and stomach, and all they could do was wait 'till both regained consciousness. Eventually, Ino awoke.

"Ughhh...Shikamaru? What..." Ino said weakly. But couldn't finish her sentence, from feeling the extreme pain of her wounds, giving a sharp scream, while clutching her wounds.

"He beat us." Shikamaru said defeatedly. "We'll need you and Naruto to heal up, so we can form up a new strategy." At that Choji protested.

"Shikamaru! You're still not considering to go after him, are you? He pummelled us to pieces." Choji yelled.

"We need to complete this mission." Shikamaru replied. "It's troublesome, but if we don't, then it's one more Akatsuki member to worry about." Ino didn't argue back, and simply used her healing Jutsu on her wounds, and proceeded to healing Naruto's wounds, which was quicker, thanks to the Demon Fox's healing abilities. Naruto awoke as well, while the three explained their situation.

"Grrrr! How could we lost to such a knucklehead!" Whined Naruto. Shikamaru only piped him down.

"Relax, all you're doing is making your Demon Fox all the more excited." Shikamaru said. And with that, Naruto calmed down.

"So what plans do we have in beating this guy?" Asked Ino.

"I have something. But it might be risky." Shikamaru started. "He pummelled a lot of Naruto's Shadow Clones, fought through my Shadow Possession and destroyed Naruto's Rasengan. Obviously, this guy's an expert in fighting through most Ninjutsu with his brute strength alone."

"If that's the case, then we're toast!" Said Choji.

"Not quite." Shikamaru replied. "He has great difficulty fighting back one Ninjutsu at a time, so..."

"We should hit him with all our Ninjutsu combined!" Naruto called with victory. Shikamaru smiled.

"It's gonna be troublesome, but I've got a plan which will totally give us the upper hand." And with that Shikamaru discussed his super-computer battle strategy to combat Kyojin. After a while, Kyojin was making his way through the forest, still growling to himself.

"Hey, you!" Called a familiar voice. Kyojin spun around to reveal Naruto again. On the same level as him, and wide open. "How 'bout a rematch?!"

"Grrrrr! Stupid kid!!" Growled Kyojin. "You no see you can't win?!" And then Kyojin charged full force for the defenseless Naruto.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Called Naruto, and two hundred Naruto's were called forth. "Get him, boys!" All the Shadow clones piled on Kyojin, but as expected, Kyojin broke through, puffing away all the Shadow Clones and throwing back the real one. But while Kyojin was distracted, Shikamaru got him in another Shadow Possession.

"You go through same plan!" Yelled Kyojin. "It not work!" But before he could wriggle out, Choji had super-sized his arms and held Kyojin between his two palms. But even then, Kyojin was still fighting back.

"Alright, Ino. Go!" Shikamaru called.

"Alright! Mind Destruction Jutsu!" Ino said, performing her Jutsu on the vulnerable giant. This disrupted his moovements completely.

"Grrrrr! I can't move!!" Growled Kyojin.

"It's working!" Choji said in victory.

"Don't get cocky. He's still living." Shikamaru grumbled. "And we need a lot of Chakra to hold him." Ino was beginning to feel the strain of holding such a giant.

"Naruto! He's all yours!!" Called Ino. Then from behind a bush came Naruto, with his Rasengan at the ready. He charged towards Kyojin ready to plunge it in.

"Steady guys." Shikamaru said steadily. Naruto was now directly in front of Kyojin, ready to attack. "Now!!" Yelled Shikamaru. And at once him, Ino and Choji released their Jutsu. If the Rasengan ball hit Kyojin with their effects intact, they would take the damage as well.

"Rasengan!!"

By the time the Jutsu were released, Naruto was inches away from Kyojin, so he couldn't catch the Rasengan ball in time, and the ball of Chakra made impact on the giant, blowing him away.

"Hmph. Naru-Ino-Shika-Cho was a success." Shikamaru smiled in victory. But for some reason, the insane growling was still being heard. It sounded weaker, but it was still there. And instead of the growling having emotions of anger, it was now filled with sadness. Naruto was about to investigate before Choji stopped him.

"We'll go together." Said the big-boned ninja. The four travelled with Kunai ready, in case he attacked again. Lying on the ground, with a Rasengan wound to his chest, he was seen to be crying. The four had great pity on him.

"You okay, big guy?" Asked Naruto.

"Well, no duh, Naruto! You just attacked him with Rasengan!" Ino said. "I think I'd shed a tear if you hit me with a Rasengan."

"Why do mean ninjas hurt Kyojin?" Said the big ninja behind the tears.

"Huh?" Said the four with confusion.

"Mean ninja hurt Kyojin!" He repeated. "What did Kyojin ever do to mean ninja?"

"It's not what you did, it's what you'll do." Said Shikamaru. "You're a rogue ninja. And if you live, then the criminal-organisation Akatsuki will use your strength. And for us, that's bad."

"A-Akatieskie?" Said the ninja, finding great difficulty saying the word "Akatsuki". "Those meanies already visit Kyojin." The four gasped. "I told them go away. That many moons ago." The four looked at each other with their eyes wide open.

"Who asked you to come?" Asked Naruto. He knew nearly all the members, so if the description of one was right, he was telling the truth.

"A big meanie with a black coat and red clouds. He had a big sword." Said Kyojin. Naruto knew this to be Kisame Hoshigaki, Akatsuki's ninja of the Hidden Mist.

"If Akatsuki found him already, and couldn't convince him, he's not a danger!" Ino said with remorse. "What do we do? The Hokage expects us to kill him."

"I think the only way we can finish this mission successfully, is if he's no longer declared a rogue ninja." Shikamaru said.

"That ain't gonna be easy, Shikamaru." Said Choji. "He'll have to go back to his village." And with that, Kyojin jumped away from the four. Not to get away, but to escape that thought.

"Village bad!" Screamed Kyojin.

"We heard about your village big guy." Said Naruto. "But is it all that bad?"

"It bad because they make me train all day, and all night, until Kyojin become strong." Said Kyojin sadly. "Kyojin wanted happy life, with no fighting. But cruel village people made me train 'till Kyojin could fight strongest village ninja. Kyojin refuse, and Kyojin thrown out." The four listened with angst.

"How cruel." Ino whsipered.

"So you were just kicked out cus you didn't want to fight?!" Naruto said in frustration. Kyojin nodded with sorrow.

"Question is, how do we get Kyojin back to his village?" Shikamaru whined. "It was troublesome trying to kill him, it's gonna be a bigger problem looking after him."

"Look after?" Asked Kyojin. "You be Kyojin's brothers and sister?" The four were perplexed by this question.

"Ugghhh, sure. Why not?" Said Naruto indifferently. Kyojin smiled.

"Brothers and sister nice ninja." Said Kyojin happily. "Then you get Kyojin to my village?"

"Hmph. Only way to finish this mission besides killing you." Shikamaru groaned.

"And I plan to get you there!" Said Naruto confidently.

"How?" Asked Choji.

"By proving to the village your strong!" But with this, Kyojin cowered even further.

"Kyojin not strong enough to fight strongest village ninja!" Kyojin whined. Naruto kneeled beside the giant, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Kyojin. You're one of the strongest ninja I've ever fought. I know when someone like you will win fights. Big brother promises you, that you'll win that fight and be back in your village." On looking in Naruto's determined eyes, the light in Kyojin's returned.

"Yes! Kyojin ready for strongest village ninja!" Yelled Kyojin. He tried to stand up, but was still weakened from Naruto's Rasengan, and groaned in pain.

"But first, we need to heal you up." Ino said, while tending to his wounds. But little did the five know, that they were secretly being watched by ninja just as big, or bigger than Kyojin.

"Kyojin lose to Hidden Leaf brats?!" Said one. Another one, that looked double the size of Kyojin spoke up.

"Kyojin weak! Kyojin dare challenge me, Kyojin see how Kyodai defeats opponents!"

After a while, Kyojin's wounds began to heal, thanks to Ino's healing Jutsu. Eventually, the wounds was beginning to stable and Kyojin could stand without difficulty.

"How are you feeling?" Asked Shikamaru.

"Fighting ready!!" Said Kyojin.

"Hang on, big stuff." Said Ino, sitting Kyojin back down. "Big sister needs to fetch some water to help remove any infection to your big injury. Do you know any lakes or rivers nearby?" Kyojin pointed to a small clearing from a distance away.

"Small river over there." Said Kyojin. Ino smiled and jogged to the clearing, out of the other four's sight.

"So tell me, where exactly is this village?" Asked Shikamaru.

"Not far from here. Only a few hillsides from your home, big brother Shikie." Kyojin said. Shikamaru gaped at his little pet name Kyojin gave him. He guessed having a long name would make him wide open to nicknames of all sorts. Meanwhile, Ino had arrived at the small river and was busy filling up a small gourd with water. But having her guard down, she didn't know the watchers were spying on her. The leader of the group smiled.

"Take her." And like a dog to his master's call, two jumped down next to Ino. She didn't react, seeing as she mistook the giant thump for Kyojin.

"Oh, Kyojin." Ino said with her head still focussing on the water. "You shouldn't-" But before she could finish her phrase, one of the ninja grabbed her by the throat. Before she fell unconscious, she gave a loud scream.

The four heard a scream in the distance, making birds flee with fright.

"Ino!!" The three Leaf ninja yelled in worry.

"Big sister in trouble?!" Yelled Kyojin.

"Yeah! And we're gonna find out what!" Said Naruto as he charged to the river spot. The three followed, with Kyojin charging like a bear by their side.

"You think it's Akatsuki?" Asked Choji. "They could be after Naruto."

"No, it's Kyojin's people." Said Shikamaru. "I spotted a few ninja watching us while Ino healed Kyojin. It's not everyday you see a bunch of elephants up a tree, is it?" Naruto laughed in his thoughts, but remained vigilant, for one of his best friends were in danger. The four arrived at the river spot to see four ninja, who looked exact doubles to Kyojin, big, rugged and biceps that could crush a man. With them was Ino, unconscious, her hands tied and torso tied to a rock with a gag in her mouth. Choji and Shikamaru flinched at the sight of their teammate captured by such enemies.

"Let her go!" Yelled Naruto. But before he could charge, Kyojin stopped him.

"Big brother Naruto not get involved. You get beaten easily." Kyojin warned.

"Yeah, thanks for the confidence boost." Said Naruto weakly. The four giants laughed heartedly.

"Kyojin. Time too long. You no stronger." Mocked one of the ninja.

"Kyojin stronger in heart only." Replied Kyojin.

"You wish to prove it." Said the biggest one. Naruto nearly gasped at the sight of this giant. He made Choji look like small, and Kyojin look normal-sized.

"Kyodai! You village strongest ninja! Kyojin beat you, Kyojin go back, yes?!" Kyojin said.

"Kyojin go back, if Kyojin beats me!" Said the giant known as Kyodai. "But if Kyojin lose, we kill skinny girl!" The four big ninja laughed, while the thee Leaf ninja gasped in shock.

"You monsters!" Yelled Naruto in rage, almost feeling his Demon Fox Chakra ignite. Shikamaru merely cooled him down.

"As Kyojin's advisor, I will speak for him." Said Shikamaru, taking the foreground. "If Kyojin loses, you kill Ino, once you get through us." Naruto smiled encouragingly. "Cus' the only way you're getting to Ino, is over my dead body!" The four giants laughed.

"We accept challenge from puny Leaf ninja!" Called Kyodai. Shikamaru groaned, he was hoping that would scare them. It was time for a different strategy.

"Alright, guys, team debate!" Shikamaru called as Naruto, Choji and Kyojin huddled together.

"Shikamaru, why'd you get them so pumped up like that?!" Said Naruto.

"Can't help it. Can't stand it when people get so cocky over people's lives." Shikamaru replied.

"Kyojin do whatever it takes to free big sister!" Growled Kyojin.

"Then you'll need this." Said Choji handing him a Food Pill that looked more like a seed to Kyojin. "Eat it and you'll get stronger!" Said Choji. Kyojin smiled and gulped down the tiny pill. In seconds, he was pumped up for battle."

"Guaaarrghhh! Kyojin ready for Kyodai!!" Yelled Kyojin.

"Go get him, big guy!" Said Naruto giving him a last pat on the back. Kyodai didn't look fazed.

"Kyojin so weak, he not land punch on me!" Taunted Kyodai. But his taunting was soon ended as Kyojin charged for Kyodai, and punched him in the face, sending him colliding with the other giants.

"Good one!" Called Naruto.

"Watch yourself!" Yelled Shikamaru. "He's gonna charge!" And just as Shikamaru had predicted, Kyodai got up and charged for Kyojin, but the gentle giant grabbed a fist that was about to land on him and was in a power struggle with the giant giant.

"Kyojin stronger than before!" Growled Kyodai.

"Kyojin warned Kyodai of superior strength!" Kyojin said, and lifted the evil giant up and threw him back to his giant friends. Kyodai got up, looking mad. He attempted to charge to Kyojin and punch him, but Kyojin blocked and punched him in the torso, severely weakening him.

"Kyojin not like fighting!" Said Kyojin.

"But I do!" Yelled Kyodai. "Give me your power you three!" And like a lamb to the slaughter, the three other giants, began focussing their Chakra, which left the palm of their hands, and travelled like a stream into Kyodai, making him stronger and possibly, more deadly.

"What evil magic is this?" Said Kyojin in worry.

"Magic Jutsu make Kyodai stronger than puny Kyojin!" Yelled Kyodai, and kicked Kyojin in the stomach. He grinded his feet to a halt, but the now powerful giant, kept up the assault on Kyojin, landing very painful blows that would kill a regular human being.

"He's getting fried!" Yelled Choji.

"If he's getting help from his friends, it's time we gave help to the big guy!" Yelled Naruto.

"Follow my lead." Said Shikamaru. And he performed his Shadow Possession Jutsu on Kyojin. Not to paralyze him, but to move swiftly away from Kyodai's punches, thanls to the Jutsu's effect.

"Why is Kyojin moving so fastly?!" Said Kyojin with fright.

"Alright, listen you two!" Said Shikamaru while avoiding the punches. "The big guy gets sloppy whenever Kyojin gets the better of him. We're gonna send in a little substitute!" Naruto knew what he meant by this and got ready. Then Shikamaru controlled Kyojin to grab Kyodai's wrists when he punched again, and mustered all his strength to fling Kyodai away. They collided with the now weakened giant-companions. "Now, Naruto!" Naruto then used a Transformation Jutsu to imitate Kyojin. He ran into the fight-zone beside Kyojin.

"I'll take it from here!" Said Naruto. Kyojin was confused by looking at his spitting image. "Don't worry. Big brother Naruto's here to help!" With this Kyojin smiled happily, fell back and hid behind Choji with his Expansion Jutsu. By this time Kyodai had gotten back up, madder than ever, but his allies were knocked out from the strain of lack of Chakra.

"Don't get hit, Naruto, or your Jutsu'll wear off!" Thought Shikamaru. Kyodai charged for Naruto.

"You'll have to catch Kyojin first!" Yelled Naruto in Kyojin's form. "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" And two hundred Kyojins appeared, surrounding Kyodai, who was perplexed.

"Kyojin not know powerful Jutsu!" Yelled Kyodai.

"You not know Kyojin's special Jutsu!" Said Naruto, trying imitate Kyojin's voice. Kyodai attempted to whack away the real one, but all he kept hitting were Shadow Clones. Eventually, Kyodai got even madder, his hits were growing weary, and he was growling even wilder.

"Kyodai not take this anymore!" Kyodai yelled in frustration.

"Now!" Yelled the real Naruto. One Shadow Clone punched Kyodai, throwing him off balance. "Na!" Yelled the clone. Then two others kicked him in the air. "Ru! To!" By this time, Kyodai was in mid-air still trying to take in the immense hits. Then the real Naruto jumped up to Kyodai, ready to finish him off. "Uzumaki Barrage!" Yelled Naruto as he kicked him back down to Earth, and with the sheer force of the fall, a thick cloud of dirt drifted into the air. During this smog, Naruto ran back to the sidelines with Shikamaru and Choji, and replaced himself with the real Kyojin, not before Kyojin smiled and patted Naruto on the back. Kyojin was now in the thick layer of smoke, waiting for it to settle. When it did, Kyodai was lying on the ground weakened.

"You...you're stronger...Kyojin!" Muttered Kyodai.

"Kyojin strong, because of brothers and sister!" Said Kyojin nobly. "Let go big sister, and Kyojin go back to village." Kyodai smiled. Not evilly, but acknowledgingly.

"Kyojin defeat strongest village ninja." Kyodai said. "Kyojin defeat village leader. Kyojin no-longer rogue ninja. Kyojin now leader of village." Kyojin was shocked by this statement. But the three "brothers" came to Kyojin.

"You'll make a good leader, Kyojin." Said Naruto.

"Yeah, maybe you can actually make it better." Said Choji. Kyojin smiled and looked to the sky.

"Kyojin given back his honour!" Yelled Kyojin happily. "Kyojin now no-longer walks path of shame! Now walks path of pride!" The three smiled happily. Before Kyojin did anything else, he approached Ino, and snapped the ropes that bound her, and carried her to the three. "You give Kyojin honour. Kyojin happy little ninja help Kyojin."

"Don't sweat it." Said Shikamaru. Kyojin smiled again.

"Kyojin must depart to home village." He said. "Big brothers and sister look each other?"

"We will. That's a promise." Said Naruto. Then with that, Kyojin left with the other giants he now called companions. And the four returned to the Hidden Leaf Village.

"What do you mean you made him the leader of his village?!" Yelled a very angry Tsunade at the four who were now debriefing at Tsunade's office.

"He wasn't bad, Hokage!" Said Ino. "And besides, Akatsuki already visited him years ago, but rejected them."

"You're supposed to kill rogue ninja, not help them!" Tsunade snapped, making Ino quiet.

"Put it this way, Hokage." Said Shikamaru. "We killed him." The other three looked at him strangely. "He's no longer a rogue ninja, so his rogue ninja self is dead." Tsunade was about to utter a reply, but couldn't fight back such insane logic. So, she sighed.

"Alright, as long as you can guarantee me Kyojin won't be a further threat, this mission is a success." Said Tsunade.

"Guaranteed!" Said all four. Afterwards, Shikamaru invited Naruto, Sakura and Sai along to the Yakiniku Q meat-restaurant for a victory meal. As always Choji was helping himself to almost everything the grill could take. While Choji was busy devouring, Naruto, Ino and Shikamaru told Sakura and Sai the mission that happened.

"So you just let the big guy go?" Asked Sakura perplexed by their story.

"Yeah, Grandma Tsunade wasn't too happy with it either." Said Naruto indifferently.

"Why did you not kill him? It **was** the mission, right?" Sai asked. The others sighed. If Sai was there, he would've taken no hesitation in killing him.

"Dunno. Guess it goes against my nature to let such an immature big guy die." Shikamaru said.

"That makes no sense." Said Sai indifferently.

"Let it go, Sai." Naruto said. "You'll only spend hours at the library." Then Sakura giggled, not just at the joke, but another factor, only remembering a certain event in their mission.

"So sorry to hear you got kidnapped, Ino." Sakura said to Ino mockingly. Ino growled madly.

"Oh, be quiet you!" Snapped Ino. "I wouldn't have gotten kidnapped if I hadn't had my back turned." Sakura nonetheless continued smirking.

"Face it, Ino. You couldn't cut it!" Sakura mocked again.

"Oh yeah?!" Ino yelled.

"Yeah!" Both gave the other a cold hard stare, which was quite common between the two, being rivals after all.

"You think they'll ever get along?" Shikamaru asked Naruto.

"I'll eat a Shuriken if they do."


	5. The Great Criminal Ninja Training Gang

The Great Criminal Ninja Training Gang

A cold dark night followed the bloody early night a few hours previously. A steel cart was being pulled along, in a meadow that stretched for miles, by four criminal looking ninja. They had many scars on their arms and faces, there clothes heavily emphasised their criminal position and on their forehead was a forehead protector with a symbol of a skull. After a while, they arrived at one particular location, one ninja did three hand seals and focussed on the last.

"Release!" He said, and then out of nowhere came a large metal fortress, shaped like a giant cube with one of it's edges inplanted to the ground, so it was standing at an angle. The four proceeded into the gates, and arrived at a large hall, big enough for the cart to move around in.

"We got new arrivals, boss!" Called another ninja, making the sound particles echo through the hall. Then, a ninja occupying the fortress came up from the ground in which the four stood. He was more evil, a more darker looking ninja, with a steel armour and a long cape, with the same identifiable headband of a skull. He approached the metal cart and pressed his hand on it. He smiled.

"Take them to the dungeons." He said with malice. The other four smiled in turn. But they didn't realize, before the cube fortress had vanished, that they were secretely being watched.

Back in the sleepy village of the Hidden Leaf, Naruto had just finished his seventh helping to ramen at his favourite spot, during the early hours of the afternoon.

"Ahhh! Nothing beats a good seven lunches of ramen!" Exclaimed Naruto while massaging his over-sized stomach after all the food he consumed. Afterwards, he paid his fees to Teuchi, the owner, and left to go back to training. Before he could proceed to step two, he ran into two of his old friends: Kiba Inuzuka, who was walking alongside his grown dog, Akamaru, and Shino Aburame.

"Hey, Naruto!" Called Kiba proudly.

"Hey, Kiba! Hey, Shino! Hey..." Before he could finish his routine hello's to Team Kurenai, he was missing one person. "Where's Hinata?" Kiba and Shino sighed and both side-stepped the opposite direction away from each other, to reveal a frightened figure of Hinata Hyuga, who was hiding behind Shino and Kiba in fright. "Oh, hey Hinata!" She jumped, and slowly looked up to see the smiling face of Naruto.

"N-Naruto..." Whispered the frightened Hinata. And like a mouse fleeing from a cat, she jumped back behind Kiba with a small squeak.

"What's up with her?" Asked Naruto. "She got an allergy to cool people?" Shino and Kiba gaped at Naruto's rather silly phrase.

"We're not here for welcoming." Shino said, while trying to control himself. "The Hokage's got a mission for us." Naruto's face gleamed.

"Well, why didn't you say so?!" Questioned Naruto. And at once he ran off to the Hokage's tower. The three members of Team Kurenai raced behind him.

"Man, he sure loves a mission." Said Kiba while running. Eventually, Team Kurenai arrived in the Hokage's office, to see Tsunade, Shizune and Naruto.

"What on Earth took you so long. I've been waiting for ages." Naruto said with annoyance.

"Sorry if we couldn't arrive fast enough, Naruto." Said Shino sarcastically. The four then faced the Hokage, who was sitting in her chair casually.

"Good timing, Team Kurenai." Said Tsunade. "I was about to knock Naruto out for complaining how you weren't here on time." Naruto immediately froze, while Kiba and Shino gave a victorious look, while Hinata merely gasped. "Jokes over. I've assigned you an A-rank mission." As expected, Naruto smiled at Tsunade's grace in giving the mission.

"So what's this one about, Grandma?!" Yelled Naruto with excitement. Tsunade sighed, especially to the mention of her nickname.

"Okay, according to one of our Jounin we sent to the Land of Steel, there were attacks on small villages in the country. There were no deaths, but there were many kidnappings." The four gave a serious look.

"What information is there on the kidnapped?" Asked Shino calmly.

"They're around twelve to fifteen. This is the age group the kidnappers regularly go for. They don't have connections with the Land of Steel's ninja squad, and don't know a Ninjutsu from a Kunai." Tsunade explained.

"That's kinda weird." Naruto prepped up. "Don't these fancy rogue ninja go for other ninja to hold ransoms or something?"

"That's what our Jounin's finding out." Tsunade replied.

"Who are the kidnappers?" Asked Kiba.

"They're a criminal Shinobi gang, calling themselves the Geshunin Syndicate." Tsunade went on. "They have been involved in the training of many criminal Shinobi lately, making the crime rates of the Land of Steel rise. There is reason to believe this gang is teaching the kidnapped the ways of the ninja, and possibly teaching them forbidden Jutsu. If Akatsuki find out about this gang, the Syndicate could supply Akatsuki with limitless powerful members." On the mention of the word Akatsuki, Naruto gasped.

"So what's the mission, grandma?!" Naruto said with seriousness in his tone.

"Not too long ago, they made their attack on a village near to the Feudal Lord's palace." Tsunade said. "Only grasping the full situation, he's calling for our assistance, to disband this Syndicate, and rescue the kidnapped, paying us handsomely. We agreed, not only for the money, but to stop further threats of Akatsuki. Your first objective, is to track down our Jounin spy down, who is still gathering information on the syndicate, and he will supply you with your next task.

"How are we supposed to tell if he's a Jounin from the Hidden Leaf Village?" Asked Naruto sheepishly.

"That's why I assigned you with the best tracking team, Naruto. With Kiba's smell, Hinata's Byakugan and Shino's insects, you shouldn't have any difficulty finding him." Naruto looked at his three comrades.

"Ohhhh!" Said Naruto in full understanding.

"Use your tracking abilities, Team Kurenai, and you should find a familiar face. And one more thing." Added Tsunade and she handed Shino a map. "This is a map of the Land of Steel. You'll know when you leave the Fire Country, and where to expect your target. We've not got much time, so, leave when ready!"

"Yes ma'am!" Said the four loudly. And with that, Naruto, Hinata, Kiba and Shino set off. Tsunade sat back on her chair.

"Let's hope Naruto can stop this threat." Said Tsunade hopefully.

The captives of the band of rogue ninja, named the Geshunin Syndicate, were taken to the darkest dungeon in the giant fortress. Each of the captives were placed in separate cells and locked inside. The cells were made of pure steel; everything in the cell was steel, including the matress. All the prisoners remained in their cells, scared, frightened and unsure of whatever their captors had in store for them. All except for one noisy child, around 13, with bright blonde hair, and wearing casual summer clothes, involving a t-shirt and baggy shorts. He continually whacked the cell bars and caused the biggest uproar in the prison.

"Hey! Lemme out!" Yelled the loud-mouthed child. "I didn't do anything! Let. Me. OUT!!!" Then the boy heard someone shushing him. It was a girl around the same age with long black hair and a small white dress, in a cell directly next to him.

"Be quiet. They said they'll kill you if you make a sound." Warned the child with fear in her eyes.

"They're just saying that to scare you!" Snapped back the uncaring child. "Now I'll say this one more time! LET ME GO!!!" And at that precise moment, his voice didn't go unheard. The steel floor which the boy resided, began to rise up, and from it, came a long thin steel spike that pierced the boy's shoulder, pinning him to the bars. He gave a loud shriek of pain, as the girl looked on in horror. And the large steel mould that rose from the floor, formed a face that was recognisable as their kidnappers. As if looking at a live body, the steel began talking.

"Consider that a warning." He said. And he took the spike from the boy's shoulder, and retreated into the steel floor. And then, the boy remained quiet.

"Geez, how long's this gonna take?!" Whined Naruto. The four ninja and dog were jumping tree to tree when Naruto made this complaint.

"We only left the village fifteen minutes ago, idiot!" Yelled Kiba in irritance.

"How long until we reach our destination...Shino?" Asked Hinata shyly.

"We should arrive there in two hours at our current speed." Shino said normally. Naruto groaned.

"I hate jumping around like this!" Continued Naruto.

"D-Do you think we can walk, Kiba?" Asked Hinata.

"Yeah, but it'll take longer." He said. " And like the Hokage said, time is one thing we don't have." Hinata remained quiet because of this.

"Yo, Hinata!" Called Naruto. "Don't worry 'bout me. I can last." After saying this, he gave an encouraging smile, to which Hinata blushed violently at.

Two hours had passed. And just had predicted, they had left the Fire Country.

"Alright, we're in." Shino called to his team.

"That's a relief." Hinata replied. But to her dismay, Naruto didn't find it any better, since he was lagging behind due to exhaustion.

"I'm fine...I can kick those guy's butt...I..." Naruto muttered. But before he could continue, he slipped on one of the trees and went stumbling down to the roots below.

"Naruto!" Yelled Hinata in worry. Shino sighed and jumped down to the undergrowth, followed by Hinata, Kiba and Akamaru. And lying face-down on the undergrowth was Naruto, quivering and writhing, with both exhaustion and pain. "Are you okay...Naruto?" She attempted to lift Naruto face-up, but he was too heavy for Hinata to lift.

"We'll take a break here. We'll just be getting in the road if we're tired." Shino said calmly, while the combined forces of Kiba, Akamaru and Hinata lifted Naruto up.

"That...was...sore..." Whined Naruto. While Naruto was regaining his breath, Shino had sent a squad of insects into the forest.

"My bugs'll keep an eye out for the Jounin we're looking for." Shino announced. Then Hinata had returned with a full flask of water.

"I-I...brought you some water...Naruto..." Stuttered Hinata offering him the flask. To that, Naruto jumped up and grabbed the flask from her.

"Man, thanks, Hinata." Cheered Naruto as he started to transfer the water from the flask to his mouth. Hinata blushed heavily at the thanks. Naruto then finished the water, and took a gasp for breathe. "Well, let's go!"

"We're still tired, Naruto." Shino said, masking his own exhaustion. "The idea behind Hinata getting water was for all of us to have some." Naruto flinched and lowered his head in shame. Thanks to this stunt, Naruto was sent to fetch the water, much to Hinata's kind protests.

"Stupid Shino, thinking he's a good leader. The only thing he's got is a...!" Mummbled Naruto. but while filling the flask up, he had noticed something hidden in the grass in the bank. "Hey, what's this?" He went to investigate, and picked up a fingerless glove with a steel plate on the side. "Hey. I know that glove." Naruto thought. But instead of going on to investigate, he pocketed it. "Meh, don't jump to conclusions Sakura always says." And with that he returned the full flask of water back to his comrades, not mentioning his strange clue. After all three consumed their share of water, and Akamaru fed some special food pills, they set off again.

"Yo, Shino." Called Kiba. Where're we supposed to meet this guy?"

"Not long now." Shino replied. And with that, Shino noticed one of his insects report to him. "You got the Jounin?" After a few seconds of bug noises, Shino muttered in confusion.

"What's up?" Asked Naruto.

"Hinata! The Jounin's closeby. Use your Byakugan and check him out." Shino said.

"Y-Yes!" Replied Hinata. She performed a few hand seals. "Byakugan!" She focussed on the entire forest, and came across a figure perched on the branches. She gasped in fright as to who it was. "He's that way!" She pointed west, and the five changed course to her coordinates.

"Who was it, Hinata?" Asked Naruto. "Anyone we know?" She shook her head.

"I-I think I was mistaken." Hinata said.

"Hold up, guys!" I think we found him!" Kiba said. And indeed their was someone there. The person had a long cloak on, and was barely recognisable as a Jounin. He was crouching secretly at a branch, staring at a long meadow a fair distance away. All five made an abrupt halt behind him.

"Alright, we're here." Shino said. "Now show yourself." Naruto was confused by this statement. But the figure rose up, and waved away his cloak. All five were stunned to see who was there.

"I was right." Said Hinata in shock.

"WHAT?!!!" Yelled Naruto with equal emotion.

"No way!" Kiba whispered with a bark from Akamaru.

"Hmph, we'll have plenty of help from you." Shino said without emotion. And the fated Jounin who was supplying the information was none other than Kakashi Hatake.

"Yo! You guys are right on time." Kakashi said with a smile behind his mask.

"Kakashi-Sensei!" Yelled Naruto. "So it was you!" Kakashi was confused with this statement, but was quelled when Naruto presented the fingerless glove found at the river.

"My glove!" Kakashi said in surprise as he retrieved it and placed it back on his left hand. "Good job, Naruto, I thought I'd never see it again."

"What the heck are you doing here?" Naruto added.

"Just as the Hokage asked me to do: gather information on the Geshunin Syndicate." Kakashi replied casually.

"I-It'll be an honour working alongside you, Kakashi-Sensei." Hinata said with a bow. Kakashi smiled at this.

"Now I'd love to have some idle chat, especially since I've been up here for three days now, but we have a mission to do." At that, Kakashi pulled his cloak over himself and faced over the long meadow.

"What info do you have Kakashi-Sensei?" Asked Shino.

"The Syndicate's hideout are hidden under a Genjutsu in that meadow." Kakashi said. "I managed to copy the hand signs to negate it, but it'll give my position away immediately. They've been sending a squad of about four ninja to attack separate villages, one per day and come back with a cart full of youths." At this, Hinata gave a small gasp.

"The Hokage mentioned something about you supplying us with our next task." Shino said.

"Hm? Well it would seem obvious by now: to kill the leader of the Syndicate, disband them and rescue their kidnapped." Kakashi announced.

"Any idea how we do that?" Asked Kiba awkwardly.

"Well first, we have to infiltrate that fortress. Since it's protected by a Genjutsu, we can't launch any physical attack at it, and if we release the Genjutsu, all we'll do is alert them of our presence."

"That's all we can do, Sensei." Naruto said. "Besides, we'll be caught anyway to kill the leader."

"We have to rescue the prisoners first. That's our top priority. If we're discovered, they'll use the kidnapped as hostages to put us in a rather difficult position." Responded Kakashi. "I will release the Genjutsu to draw out the leader and all high-ranking ninja. Someone has to be in the dungeons to sneak the children out and into the forest."

"How're we meant to get inside?" Asked Kiba.

"As prisoners." Answered Kakashi. The four flinched at this. "The kidnappers return with more prisoners everyday. If they see two stray children, they'll want to kidnap them. Naruto, Hinata, that's your jobs."

"What about us, Kakashi-Sensei?" Asked Kiba. "If there're guards, Shino can use his bugs to take them out."

"Our bait needs to represent normal teenagers. Shino is incapable of looking...normal." Kakashi said, while Shino growled in frustration. "You can't either, Kiba. Your skills require Akamaru, and they'll find it strange that a normal kid is walking a ninja dog. Naruto and Hinata can merely remove all ninja-related appearances and blend in as normal teenagers."

"Good point." Kiba said.

"So what do we do, Kakashi-Sensei?" Asked Naruto.

"Take off both your headbands, and ninja pouches, then stand in the meadow and act natural until the shipment comes."

"Okay." Said Naruto and Hinata. Naruto removed his headband and all the weapon pouches attached to his clothes, which made him look completely normal. Hinata removed her headband tied across her neck, and took off anything ninja-like on her clothes. Both looked completely like regular teenagers.

"Perfect." Kakashi remarked. "Now remember, when they approach and attempt to kidnap you, resist as a normal person would. Don't use Jutsu. Oh, and try not to overdo it, you'll just end up killed." At that, Naruto and Hinata gulped. "Naruto, Hinata, we'll give you half an hour to release the prisoners, once done, we'll do our part. Kiba, Shino, you guys stay here with me. We'll be the ones to fight the Syndicate leader." Both nodded. "Okay, Naruto, Hinata, head to your positions and act natural."

"Yes!" Replied the two, with Hinata giving a stutter as usual. Both hopped down to the edge of the forest, which led them to the meadow. There they sat at the edge of a tree, looked back to see Kakashi giving them the thumbs-up and rested there.

"Ummmm....Naruto?" Started Hinata.

"Yeah, Hinata?" Replied Naruto.

"Mmmmm, I...Ummm, just wanted to wish you luck..if that's okay." Hinata stuttered. Naruto grinned.

"I hope you do your best too, Hinata." He said happily. "It would be a shame if something happened to you today." Hinata gasped, blushed heavily and played over what Naruto had just said. She had the urge to faint, but resisted. After ten minutes of pretending to act normally, a troope of bandits approached. They were ninja of some sort, which was distinguishable from the headband with a skull on the metal plate. There were four of them altogether and had many scars on their bodies. The cart they were escorting was made of pure steel, and it was hard to tell what was inside. As they approached, Naruto spoke up.

"So how was school today?" Naruto said loudly. Hinata was confused by this question.

"W-What? Naruto...we don't..." Hinata replied. Naruto gave a desparate look to her, and then she got the message. "Oh...ummm, y-yes, it went very well."

"That's it. get their attention." Kakashi said while keeping his voice low. All of a sudden, one large bandit caught sight of the two, sitting on the grass, laughing and looking merry. He waved the cart to stop.

"We got any more room in that cart?" He asked his colleague beside him with a gruff voice. The asked ninja peered into a hole in the cart.

"Yeah, tons, the last village didn't have much kids." He replied. The asking ninja smiled.

"Let's add those two." He said, raising grins to the other three. Three separated from the cart and one watched over it. Soon the three were standing above Naruto and Hinata. Naruto looked up at them, while Hinata looked on in fright.

"Yo!" Naruto said casually. "You guys looking for something?" The three gave an evil sneer.

"How 'bout you two come on a little ride with us?!" Joked the head ninja, making them snigger. Hinata gasped in fear and clutched onto Naruto.

"What do we do, Naruto?" Asked Hinata fearfully. Naruto then stood up.

"You're not gonna take us anywhere, you punks!" Naruto said. With that he charged and tried to punch them; not with strong Taijutsu, that would send them flying, but just a regular punch. But his weak attacks were no match for their superior Taijutsu. The head ninja avoided the punch and kicked him in the stomach, landing in front of Hinata. Then one ninja held a kunai to Hinata's throat.

"What's it gonna be, little man?! You or your precious girlfriend?! Heh-he!" Sneered the ninja. Naruto got up and wiped a blood stain from his jaw. He growled in defeat.

"Fine, just don't hurt her!" Naruto said in defeat.

"Heh! Just what we wanna hear!" The head ninja remarked. One took two strands of rope, and bound both their hands behind their back. And like obediant dogs, they were led into the cart. In the cart, Naruto and Hinata seen five or six frightened teenagers younger than them. It pained him to see such cruelty, as they too were put under the same circumstances, being shoved in, face-down. Soon the cart door was shut over, and they continued their route.

"Yo, Hinata." Whispered Naruto. "You okay?" To his worry, no answer. "Hinata!" He peered over to the tied-up Hinata, to see her in a trance-like daze.

"I just hugged Naruto." She whispered in wonder. Kiba, Shino and Kakashi watched as the cart approached the fortress.

"Well, that went well." Kakashi said calmly. It wasn't long before the cart stopped, and Naruto and Hinata heard the head ninja call: "Release". They heard a flash, and guessed the fortress was opened. They continued inwards and two or so minutes later stopped again.

"We got more, sir!" The head ninja yelled. And then both heard the undeniable snigger of a fifth more sinister ninja.

"Excellent work. We finished our harvest, so take them to the dungeons." He commanded.

"Yes, boss!" The lower ninja replied. They were again carted off again. Eventually they stopped, and the cart door opened itself. One ninja peered into it.

"Alright, maggots! Out and into the cells!" He yelled. It was a struggle for the tied up prisoners to get onto their feet, but were soon dragged out, untied and thrown into separate cells. Naruto and Hinata however, were thrown into the same cell; it appeared they overfilled their "quota" by one, and were out of cells. The two were untied and thrown in. They then overheard a coversation with the recent ninja with one other.

"How much we got now?" One asked.

"Including those two we fished up, forty-seven." The ninja replied.

"Excellent, Kanemaru will be most pleased." The first stated. And soon those two left, and all that was there were the captives in their cells.

"Alright! Let's break out!" Whispered Naruto.

"Y-Yes!" Hinata replied. "But..Naruto. How do we escape without our ninja tools?" Naruto gave an encouraging smile.

"No worries. I've got it all figured out." He faced the cell door and made a hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" And soon fifteen or so Narutos appeared. Each grabbed one bar. "Alright! Just like how we practiced."

"Alright!" Yelled the clones. They focussed on their palms and from it, started glowing blue Chakra.

"N-Naruto..." Hinata whispered. "You're using Wind Chakra to cut the bars down, aren't you?.

"Yup." The real Naruto said. "I cut an entire waterfall, so steel bars should be no problem." Hinata looked on in amazement as the Shadow Clones focussed harder.

"N-Naruto...you've gotten stronger." She thought. Then all of them yelled as they released their Chakra and cut the bars down to size. They threw away the cut bars as the top bars clanked to the ground.

"Easy." Naruto grinned while the Shadow Clones dispersed. But something caught Hinata's eye.

"Naruto! Look!" She exclaimed. Naruto looked round to see the bars moving on their own. They took their positions in the cell door, and the slashes Naruto made on them, dissolved to make one whole bar again. They were locked back in.

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed. "C'mon! That was a perfect swipe! Fine, you wanna play hardball?!" He called forth a clone, which began focussing his Chakra into a fine ball. "Rasengan!!" He lunged the ball into one bar, which began affecting all the others. Soon, all the bars were blown away, turning into tiny pieces of metal shards.

"N-Naruto, that was amazing..." Hinata said quietly. Naruto grinned. But then, Naruto began to see notice the tiny shards move on their own, each piled on the other. Both watched with amazement and worry, as the shards towered over, they were towering at such a fast pace, that they couldn't run past it. Then, once the shards were altogether, the bars steamed slightly as the cracks were melted away.

"What the heck was that?!" Naruto exclaimed in shock. He kicked the bars, and to his dismay, all he got was a sore foot.

"N-Naruto! You musn't do that." She whispered in worry. Naruto massaged his foot better.

"I kinda figured that." Naruto said. Then Hinata did her own hand seals.

"Byakugan!" She whispered. Soon, she seen what was the cause of the regeneration. "The bars are made of pure Chakra. They must regenerate themselves when damaged."

"Any weak spots to it?" He asked. Hinata continued to focus, all around the cell, and even all around the prison.

"Th-There is nothing!" Hinata replied. "All the Chakra circulation are the same.

"You're kidding?!" Naruto yelled. Hinata gave a distraught look.

"I am sorry, Naruto."

"It's fine." Naruto then placed himself on the floor. "I ain't Shikamaru, but we need to think of how we're gonna get out."

"I-I have an idea." Hinata spoke up. Naruto got up and looked Hinata eye-to-eye.

"You do?! What? What is it?!" Naruto said sternly. Hinata couldn't help but look away from Naruto's eye contact.

"I could use my Taijutsu to stop the flow of Chakra in our bars, then you break them down..." Naruto thought of the logic. Just like when imprisoned in Jiroubou's Earth Prison, Chouji attacked the weakest point where little Chakra was circulating. If Naruto attacked with no Chakra, the bars would undoubtedly not regenerate.

"It's worth a try." Naruto said, not giving up faith.

"B-But, we can only hit one bar. I cannot duplicate myself like you, Naruto." Hinata said.

"No problem. Less Chakra for me to waste." Both readied themselves. Hinata prepared the Hyuga Clan's special Taijutsu, while Naruto prepared the Wind Chakra swipe. "When I say go...Use your Jutsu."

"Y-Yes." Hinata responded with confidence. She had her Byakugan in effect, and like she saw, the Chakra was still flowing.

"Now!" Yelled Naruto.

"Gentle Fist!" Hinata yelled. She quickly placed her palm on the bar, and released her Chakra. Her Byakugan seen that a vast part of the bar had it's Chakra blown out. "Now!" Naruto used the first method again, slicing the bar in half, as it crumbled into dust. They waited a few moments, and the bar didn't regenerate.

"Yes! Wait a go, Hinata!" Cheered Naruto as he swung his arms around her. She blushed like a beetroot, and felt dizzy. "Now c'mon we got a job to do!" Hinata regained her senses.

"Y-Yes!" Hinata said. Naruto climbed through the large gap, and Hinata had half her body through when another bar rose from the ground, cut the edge of Hinata's right arm as it regenerated itself. She gave a small scream of pain.

"Hinata! You okay?" Naruto asked in worry.

"Y-Yes! But my foot's stuck." She replied. Naruto seen that her left foot was still inside the cell, with her ankles denying it freedom.

"Don't worry, I'll get it out." Naruto assured her. But before he could focus his Wind Chakra on the defiant bar, they heard a snigger from behind. Both looked around to see nobody. But two seconds later, three ninja appeared from the ground, covered in pure steel before turning into flesh. Naruto and Hinata recognised the two ninja at the side to be the ones that "kidnapped" them.

"My, my," Spoke out the middle ninja. "I knew there was something odd about you two. But I never imagined you were Shinobi."

"And who are you?!" Naruto spat. "Are you the one kidnapping these children?!"

"Heh-he, Shinobi aren't all as dumb as I hoped." He replied. "Yes, I am Kanemaru, leader of the Geshunin Syndicate." The three laughed as Naruto had seen themselves cornered. Naruto couldn't fight the three while protecting Hinata. He was indeed in a sitation.

At the same time, Kakashi was waiting for the thirty minutes to end.

"Well, we've given them their time." He called to Kiba and Shino.

"Right!" They yelled. Then the four hopped over directly in front of, or at least they hoped, the hideout. Kakashi performed the necessary hand seals for the Genjutsu.

"Release!" He called. And the Jutsu hiding the lair was soon dispersed. The entire fortress was in full view. "Get ready."

Back to Naruto and Hinata, they had noticed that Kanemaru flinched at something.

"Take care of those two, we got an intruder!" Called Kanemaru. He performed a few hand seals and dissolved into steel, and into the floor.

"Heh. Kakashi, you pick your times to not be late." Muttered Naruto.

"Heh! No problem! This little runt was easy pickings before!" One said while cracking his knuckles. By this time, all the captives were spectating in the cells.

"Wanna bet?" Naruto said. Both ninjas charged and punched Naruto in the face, right onto the bars.

"Naruto!!" Screamed Hinata. But little did they know, they had punched a Shadow Clone.

"What?! He vanished!!" The other ninja yelled. The spectators were truly bemused by this, looking around as to where they were.

"Up here!" Yelled Naruto, as two Narutos appeared above the enemy, each one having a clone swirling a Rasengan ball, when they were ready, they dispersed. The two Narutos readied their technique on both ninja.

"Double Rasengan!!" They yelled, and hit the two with them, killing them instanty. The captives, plus Hinata, clapped at Naruto's bravery and strength. He dispersed the clone, and used his Wind Chakra to cut the steel bar that trapped Hinata. But they noticed the bar didn't regenerate.

"How come it ain't growing back again?" Asked Naruto in wonder. Hinata used her Byakugan to investigate.

"A-All the Chakra circulating the cells are gone." She reported. "Kanemaru must have taken it."

"To fight Kakashi I imagine. But that's good for us too! Means it's easier to save the prisoners." Naruto said. And with that, Naruto copied at least two hundred clones, and used the same Wind slice to free the prisoners, releasing all their bars.

"Thanks for helping us." They yelled in praise.

"Alright, lets get outta here." Naruto said leading the way. But instead of going through the corridors, he went inside one unoccupied cell, checking if it had a barred window, to the outside.

"Excuse me, ninja. What're you doing?" Asked one lad who was confused.

"Creating a shortcut." Naruto replied. Hinata watched along with the other children. Naruto then prepared a Rasengan ball. "Rasengan!" He plunged the ball of Chakra into the wall, as it caved in. He observed the ground from below, it was only a few feet drop. "Alright, c'mon out!" The captives rushed frantically to the escape hatch, climbing down to the meadow below.

"Why couldn't we have ran out the way we came in, N-Naruto?" Asked Hinata questioningly.

"Cus Kakashi and your teammates are fighting at the front door, if we take that way, we'll bump into them and endanger the kids." Naruto explained. Hinata understood fully, giving a blush at Naruto's brilliance. "I know I said I'm not as smart as Shikamaru, but I can give it a try." Hinata and Naruto then hopped out. "Alright, Hinata, I need you to get the kids to the forest."

"What about you...Naruto?" Asked Hinata stunned at this statement.

"I need to help my Sensei fight Kanemaru. Someone has to take care of the kids, and I know you got the power to do it." Naruto assured her. And she gave a nod.

"I'll do my best...Naruto." And then she fled with the captives to the sanctuary of the forest.

At the entrance of the fortress stood Kakashi, Kiba and Shino. And from the wall came the figure of Kanemaru, who melted from it, and turning back to normal.

"So you're Kanemaru." Said Kakashi sternly.

"Ahh, Kakashi Hatake, the famous copy ninja." He retorted. "It's an honour to meet you at last."

"Yeesh, Kakashi-Sensei certainly has a reputation." Kiba thought.

"Why is it that you want to kidnap these infants so much?" Asked Kakashi.

"For someone with all the knowledge, it would seem obvious." Kanemaru said. "I'm planning on teaching these children to be ultimate ninja."

"Just as I thought." Kakashi remarked. "Why? Surely Rogue Ninja such as yourself don't care about the training of other ninja."

"Glad you noticed. But I do." Kanemaru said maliciously. "I simply want to use the power that I'm sharing with these infants to make the Land of Steel a part of the Five Great Shinobi Nations. Surely that's a problem?!"

"No doubt you'll kill to meet that aim?" Kakashi replied. Kanemaru smiled.

"Sometimes you need sacrifices." He said.

"Then as Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village, we can't let you do that!" Kakashi ended, with Shino and Kiba readying themselves.

"Finally. Now enough talk! He yelled while forming a few hand seals. "Earth Release - Great Avalanche Jutsu!" He then stomped the ground and from it hundreds of rocks hurtles towards the Leaf team.

"Fine then!" Kakashi said, pulled away his headband over his left eye, revealing his Sharingan and performed the same hand seals. "Earth Release - Great Avalanche Jutsu!" He too kiced the ground, and Kakashi's kicked rocks, blocked the attacking rocks. "All you've achieved from that was teaching me a new Jutsu."

"Heh, I thought I'd be so kind to let you learn one last Jutsu. 'Cus it'll be your last!" Kanemaru said. Then he performed more hand seals. "Metal Release - Impenetrable Armor Jutsu!" His skin was soon turning silver and more metallic. Every inch of him was now metal, even his eyeballs. "Copy this if you can!" Kanemaru said, in a metallic voice.

"Kekkei Genkai. The power to manipulate metal, using Lightning and Earth Elemental Chakra." Kakashi analyzed.

"You don't miss much, huh?!" Kanemaru growled.

"I think this needs a test." Kakashi said. He performed fast hand seals. "Fire Release - Fireball Jutsu!" From his mouth, Kakashi released a giant fireball, which hit Kanemaru directly. And from the inferno, he emerged. "Immune to Fire Jutsu. That complicates things."

"Want me to run him down?" Asked Kiba.

"Hah! Sounds like a challenge!" Yelled Kanemaru defiantly. "Alright, try and hit me! You get three shots! If you can't kill me then, well, I'll crush you to oblivion!" The three flinched to this.

"We better make the three shots count." Kakashi said. "Kiba, hit him with your strongest attack!"

"Right!" Kiba said. "Let's go, Akamaru!" The faithful dog barked to his master's call. Kiba performed a few hand seals. "Earth Release - Beast Mimicry!" And then he began to be enveloped within the rocks from the ground, in which it began to form a wolf's claws, mouth and tail, forming a stone wolf, around the same height as a human. He gave a howl, but not intimidating Kanemaru.

"He's performing that technique already?!" Shino said in amazement. Once the armor was complete, Akamaru turned into an identical wolf, making two stone wolves before Kanemaru. Then, both charged, and leaped for them.

"Earth Release - Fang Over Fang!!" The wolf Kiba cried, and the two stone wolves spun at an incredible rate, making the earth beneath them split in two with the force. They charged for Kanemaru who was unfazed by this technique. He simply extended his hand as Kiba's attack made impact. The collision caused dust to cascade all aroud them. Naruto, who was continuing his search for the three, heard the crash, seen the cloud of dust and ran to it. Hinata, who was escorting the kidnapped into a safe location in the forest, also seen this crash, and began to worry over her comrades. Back at the fight, Kiba had fallen back with Akamaru, with their stone armour peeling off. When the dust cloud lifted, all that was there were Kanemaru and a giant dome of steel around him, with a tiny hole making out his image. "What?! He survived?!" The dome melted away into Kanemaru's body.

"One." Kanemaru said calmly.

"He's stronger than he looks." Kakashi said. "Fine, Shino, your turn. And make sure your insects leave him for dead."

"That I can guarantee." Shino said confidently. He extended his arms horizontally, and called forth millions of flying insects. A vast portion flew towards Kanemaru and attached themselves to his steel body. "This time, it's over." Many more insects swarmed out of Shino's sleeves and formed directly above him. "Insect Weapon Clone - Sword!" The bigs gathered together and transformed into a twelve foot long sword with a green blade. Shino then waved for the sword to charge. The sword flew on it's own towards Kanemaru and plunged into him, creating a larger dust cloud. "The fact that my insects were absorbing his Chakra, even if he wanted, he couldn't create another barrier to deflect it."

"It's over then." Kakashi sighed in relief. But to his dismay, the evil figure of Kanemaru remained, with the giant insect sword deflected with the dome of steel. The sword transformed back into insects as they retreated. Kanemaru laughed his heart out.

"A nice attack, kid." Kanemaru complimented after the insane laughter. "Could of killed any other weakling, but it's got no chance against me!"

"My bugs should have absorbed your Chakra, restricting you to use that dome." Shino said angrily. "How come it still works?!"

"My body's one hundred percent metal armor, kid. Your bugs only go for skin, bad thing is, they can't find any skin to absorb my Chakra!" Kanemaru explained. Shino sighed heavily. "Two!"

"This is bad!" Said Kakashi. "I can only hope my attacks work." He performed a few hand seals. "Earth Release - Great Avalanche Jutsu!" Kakashi yelled. And he kicked the same rocks towards Kanemaru, who retreated into the same dome protection, that protected himself from the rocks that bounced away from it's surface. Kanemaru emerged unharmed.

"How nice of you to use my technique Kakashi." Kanemaru said. But to his belittlement, Kakashi had gone. Kanemaru smiled, and formed a steel wall around his back, to which Kakashi's Raikiri was blocked instantly. "Tisk tisk, Kakashi. Trying to sneak a fourth attack just isn't your style."

"Technically the technique I performed was yours, not mine." Kakashi pointed out. "So the Raikiri was the third strike." Kanemaru sniggered.

"Good point." Kanemaru said. "But it doesn't matter!" He pointed his palm at Kakashi and a long steel pole swirled around Kakashi's neck, lifted him into the air, and sent him crashing to the ground where Kiba and Shino stood. "And now it's my turn!" The metal foe extended his arms and spreaded his legs, as long strands of sharp metal ropes began too whisk out of him. Soon it completely took over the field around him, as the trio looked in shock. Then the strands hurtled towards them, intending to stab them multiple times. They did their best to avoid all of them, but Kiba suffered many stabbed limbs, and scratches to the face, Kakashi suffered the same injuries, and Shino's insect transformation version of a shield was suffering heavy blows.

"There's too many!" Yelled Kiba, after suffering another blow to the shoulder.

"Please! Is THIS the best the Leaf Village can come up with?!" Laughed Kanemaru. But his taunts were soon dismissed as he was attacked by a familiar figure: Naruto. He prepared a Rasengan and had hit him with a large blow, to the back.

"Don't mess with the Leaf Village." Naruto said with a serious tone. But Naruto didn't know that his attack was ineffective, as Naruto only hit a Steel Clone of Kanemaru, as the real version appeared behind Naruto.

"You're starting to get on my nerves!" he said maliciously. With his steel strands, he wrapped Naruto around the chest and lifted him to the air. "I think I'll have great pleasure in killing you!" He performed hand seals, and the free strands began to grow in size, to the thickness of a thick rope. "Now die!!!" The strands hit Naruto full force, seemingly killing him, if the target weren't a Shadow Clone. And this time, Kanemaru was hit with an even stronger attack: Kakashi's Raikiri.

"You had your guard down!" Kakashi said. "Lightning beats Earth, and you're all gone!" He took the Raikiri blade out of Kanemaru's chest, but only to see extra Lightning around the wound. The wound began enclose as the lightning enveloped it. Kakashi retreated to the injured Kiba, Akamaru and Shino, along with the real Naruto.

"Who the heck is this guy?!" Asked Naruto.

"A very powerful ninja...naturally." Kakashi said. "I have a plan to defeat him, but with those steel attacks hitting us constantly, it's going to be difficult trying to pull it off." But while he was speaking to Naruto, the thicker steel strands attacked, now with Naruto trying to avoid it. And when one spike finally found an opening and was about to strike a fatal blow to him, the strand was repelled by a powerful attack which made Kanemaru raise an eyebrow. To the luck of the team, Hinata Hyuga joined the fray.

"Hah! More trash to take ut, eh?!" Yelled Kanemaru with surprise.

"You will not harm Naruto, you fiend!" Warned Hinata deeply. She joined her five struggling allies.

"Excellent, Hinata. My plan can come into plan with you here." Kakashi said.

"Wh-What can I do, Sensei?" Asked Hinata.

"Make sure those attacks don't hit us." Kakashi said. "Shino, conceal her movements with your insects. Kiba, you and Akamaru ward off any attacks that try and attack from under. Understood?"

"Yes!" Shouted Team Kurenai. And as predicted the strands came with force. Shino was fully ready for them.

"Bug Wall!" Shino said, as insects began to swirl around them hiding them from Kanemaru's sight. When the spikes approached, they were repelled before they could come near the insect dome.

"Hm?" Wondered Kanemaru. And beneath the insects, he seen Hinata spinning in a 360 degree turn on one foot at an extreme speed, with her Chakra swirling to her movements further than Shino's insects. Kanemaru tested this, with a spike approaching the Chakra, as it was shredded to pieces.

"What the?!" Wondered Naruto.

"What you see here, Naruto, is the Hinata you last seen multiplied by a thousand." Shino explained. Naruto once seen a resultant effect of Hinata's training, and it was brutal. But to imagine it increased would be scary. "Her Chakra swirls a hundred times faster, covering more areas, making an almost impenetrable barrier." Shino threw a Kunai at the barrier and it shredded so many times, it almost looked like it was vapourised.

"That's awesome." Naruto gasped.

"Naruto!" Kakashi said sternly. Naruto awoke immediately. "Our plan of attack doesn't revolve around Hinata. She is the defense until we put our attacks to motion."

"Oh, right!" Naruto said. "What've you got?!" But before Kakashi could explain, steel spikes rose from the ground, attacking inside the bug dome. Before it could harm it's inhabitants, Kiba and Akamaru used their traditional combo attacks to repel them.

"Make it fast! Hinata can't last like this!" Kiba said.

"Alright. Here's our plan of action." Kakashi said. "We hit him with Lightning and Wind simultaneously." Naruto was confused by this.

"You might wanna go in depth with it, Sensei!" Yelled Kiba.

"Very well." Said Kakashi. "Kanemaru's Kekkei Genkai centres Earth and Lightning creating Steel. My Lightning attacks countered his Earth Chakra, but only until the Lightning recovered and negated the attacks. In order to fully pierce his defense, we need to negate both Chakra Elements at the same time."

"With Wind and Lightning?!" Naruto said.

"Exactly. You know what to do." Kakashi finished.

"Sure do!" Naruto said. Just then, a metal spike attacked the barrier, making Hinata wobble on the spot.

"Hurry!" Shino called.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Said Naruto as two Shadow Clones appeared. He held out his hand as two began circling his Chakra. The ringing sound piercing everyone's ears.

"What are they doing?" Pondered Kanemaru. "Whatever it is, they won't get the chance to use it." He then summoned a horde of steel spikes to attack Hinata's barrier. They got shredded, but Hinata was losing stamina quickly.

"Almost there!" Thought Naruto as the Wind Chakra was fusing with his signature move. "There!" The ball was complete as wind circled it. "Wind Release - Rasengan!" Kakashi already had his Raikiri on full effect.

"Alright! Everyone, defend us until we get close to Kanemaru." Kakashi ordered. But to his dismay, Hinata had finally given way, as her Chakra shield was dispersed and the caster was lying on the ground.

"Ughhhh...I can see stars..." Hinata said wonderously.

"Unfortunately, it's not a complete technique." Shino said. "Despite her using it, she still gets dizzy using it."

"You pick your moments, Hinata!" Whined Naruto. Unfortunately, the spikes attacked. Kiba and Akamaru did their best to keep them at bay.

"Do what you need to do!" Kiba said with a bark from Akamaru. The two nodded and rushed through the swirling insects, charging straight for Kanemaru, who was amazed by the swirling ball of Wind.

"So that's their plan!" Kanemaru said wondrously, but nonetheless smirked. "A pity they won't surrender and join the Syndicate." He smacked both hands to the ground. "Metal Release - Dreadspike Jutsu!" forcing his Chakra into the ground, the ground all around him began to rise up with sharp metal spikes, and charged straight for Kakashi and Naruto. Both stopped the charge and hopped back, evading the deadly spikes. But before they could charge again, spikes emerged from the spikes that just attacked and all charged for the duo. They ducked just in time, only swirling past Kakashi's hair. Kakashi sensed danger and grabbed Naruto away, as more spikes emerged from the spikes above them.

"Naruto, do you have Chakra to spare?!" Kakashi asked while putting him down, trying not to touch the Rasengan.

"Sure. I just started." Naruto said.

"We'll need to decieve him." Kakashi replied. All the spikes then retracted back to the ground and back to Kanemaru. He clapped slowly.

"Good evasion skills, Kakashi Hatake. "Despite unable to copy my abilities, you can still read my movements." Kanemaru applauded. "However, it ends now!" He performed a fast-paced hand seal and focussed on the last. "Metal Release - Spike Dome Jutsu!" He presented his palms, as thousands upon thousands of cone-shaped spikes charged for them. But instead of hitting them, they formed a dome, spiked end inwards, towards the pair. They tried to look around for an exit, but they were trapped with no way out. "Once I finish you, your pathetic friends are next!" He gave an insane laugh as Naruto grunted. "Metal Release - Inner Dome Shred" He closed his palms as all the spikes now charged for them, shredding them to pieces."

"Sensei!! Naruto!!" Yelled Team Kurenai as they were helpless in watching their comrades fall. The Rasengan and Raikiri disappeared, and some hope flickered, as the two vanished.

"Shadow Clones!" Kanemaru yelled in surprise. He looked around him violently for their true whereabouts. But before he could react any further...

"Up here!" Yelled Naruto. He looked up to see Naruto prepare a second Wind Release - Rasengan, and Kakashi preparing a fourth Raikiri. Kanemaru stood no chance as the two elemental attacks met their mark, creating a bigger dust cloud over the battlefield. Despite being blinded by the thick cloud, and being deafened by Kanemaru's scream of pain, they seen the metal armor being pierced.

"It's working, Naruto!" Yelled Kakashi. "Both attacks are working in unison to negate and destroy Kanemaru's armour, and kill him!" They pushed Kanemaru with one last ounce of their power, and he was crushed under the immense attacks. Naruto and Kakashi were blown back by the force of the attacks, as Naruto's Wind Rasengan was doing it's full effects, by cutting Kanemaru's skin to shreds. Not as much as the latter technique of his training, but still enough to kill him. Kiba, Shino and a recovered Hinata ran to their aid.

"Are you okay, N-Naruto?" Asked Hinata worriedly.

"Ughh, a bit Chakra-low, but I'll be fine." Replied Naruto. The dust cloud soon faded, and what was left was Kanemaru in a small crater, cut wounds all over his now flesh body, and he was sure enough dead. Kakashi sighed in relief.

"In the hands of Akatsuki, he would have been a lethal foe." He said. Then they heard a crumbling noise. And on looking around, they seen the fortress of the Geshunin Syndicate collapse to the ground.

"Kanemaru must've built that fortress." Shino inspected. "Now that he's dead, all his metal works are fading off."

"Does that mean the Syndicate's gone for good?" Asked Kiba. Hinata did the honours in activating her Byakugan and surveying the ruins of metal. All the Syndicate guards were crushed under it's debris. Not one member had a shred of life in them.

"There is no more members to the Syndicate." Hinata said. "They're disbanded."

"That's a relief." Kakashi said. "But the work's not done yet." The four looked at him with shock. "Remember, the Feudal Lord has requested to return the kidnapped to their respective homes."

"You gotta be kidding, Sensei!" Naruto whined. "There's about fifty of them kids, and we gotta go running everywhere to find which kid goes where?!"

"The Land of Steel is a surprisingly small portion of land." Shino said inspecting the map. "It's only a tenth of the size of the Fire Country. We should complete this mission very soon."

"Fine, let's get this overwith." Naruto moaned. Hinata guided the four back to the kidnapped children, who were hidden safely in a small thicket of trees, easily away from the eyes of the Syndicate. They cheered as they approached.

"Alright, everyone." Kakashi announced. "We're gonna take you all back to your homes now. You don't need to fear your kidnappers anymore." After a pile-on of hugs and hand-shakes, the team and the kidnapped were making their way throughout the Land of Steel, stopping off at partially destroyed villages, where a small portion of children were dropped off, with many thanks from their parents.

About two to three hours later, the sun was going down, and the team had finally dropped off their last batch of children.

"Well, that's the last of 'em." Naruto said with glee and stretching himself.

"Phew!" Puffed Kiba. "Mission accomplished. Now let's head back!" Naruto then suddenly remembered the long run back.

"Do we really have to do all that hopping back?!" Whined Naruto.

"Man, Naruto. You're such a whiner." Kiba said annoyingly. "'Course we-"

"Aren't." Kakashi interrupted. The four froze to catch up with Kakashi's interruption.

"Sensei. If we don't hurry back to the Hidden Leaf we'll..." Shino said calmly, but was interrupted again.

"What's the hurry?" Asked Kakashi. "No more children are being snatched, and all the kidnapped are safe." Naruto danced in joy, as Hinata smiled happily with Kakashi's decision.

"C'mon Sensei!" Whined Kiba. "I'm not tired one bit."

"Well I am." Kakashi said as he, Naruto, Hinata and Shino walked on ahead with a dumbfounded Kiba being left behind.

"Who's the whiner now, eh?!" Naruto yelled back with a grin. Kiba and Akamaru raced towards him, beating him up, while Hinata attempted to break the two up.

Meanwhile at the ruins of the Syndicate's hideout, two very mysterious figures approached the ruins. One was floating above a large white bird that was made of a material similar to clay. He had blonde hair, with hair covering the left side of his face, with a pony-tail at the back, and wearing a long black robe with red clouds. His accomplice wore the same robes, only had brown hair and his face was covered with an orange mask with a small hole to see through. The blonde kicked a metal bar in frustration.

"Those idiots!" He yelled. "We've been travelling all day and they decide to go up in a band without us, hm!" His accomplice fell to the floor, sitting down and massaging his foot.

"My feet hurt from all that walking." He complained. "Mind if I can have one of them birds too?" But the blonde mounted back on his bird and flew off. "Hey, don't leave me out here, Senpai!"

"I'm not walking back, hm!" He yelled. The unfortunate accomplice was then forced to chase his master back to their lair and report on the failure of an Akatsuki mission. 


	6. Naruto's Second Chance! A Chuunin in the

Naruto's Second Chance! A Chuunin in the Making! (Part 1)

"All done, Grandma Tsunade" Said a very weary Naruto, after returning from another tiring D-Rank mission. He was currently in Tsunade's office with the Hokage herself and Sakura behind her desk.

"Very good, Naruto." Said Tsunade pleasingly. "That's all the D-Ranks completed for today, so you're dismissed." Naruto groaned further. "Something troubling you?"

"Yeah! I've been doing stupid missions for a week now, and I haven't even had a proper mission! I had to clean a roof from bird's droppings, do you know how degrading that is?! When do I get the good missions like the ones I had with the other teams?!" Naruto exclaimed irritatingly. Tsunade sighed.

"You fail to realise, Naruto. You're still a Genin. Only the Chuunin or higher goes on high-ranked missions." Tsunade explained. "You going on high rank missions was only because we had few Jounin at the time. Some other times I felt generous." Naruto blinked and sunk his head lower. Still remembering he was a lowly Genin, while his other companions were Chuunin and one even succeeding to Jounin. Without even glancing back, he turned to the door and left. Sakura could only watch Naruto's deep jump into depression.

"Lady Tsunade?" Started Sakura. Tsunade replied with a mumble. "Why isn't Naruto a Chuunin yet? He's got skill to be a Jounin if he wanted."

"Naruto hasn't participated in the Chuunin exams during his time of training." Tsunade replied. "Naruto could be a Chuunin if he sat them, but he hasn't. Don't get me wrong Sakura, if it were up to me, he'd be on the list of ninja I'd be sending to every A-Rank mission, but the Councillors have been pressuring me to stop Genin such as Naruto go on A-Rank missions." Sakura understood well, since if it were up to the councillors, Naruto would thrown out of the Hidden Leaf Village altogether, to avoid threats of Akatsuki.

"So the only way for Naruto to get what he wants is to become a Chunnin?" Asked Sakura.

"'Fraid so." Tsunade said. "And judging by the way things are now, it seems rather impossible." Sakura looked outside to see the depressing figure of Naruto walking along the streets. It burdened her to see a carefree spirit be turned into a depressing one. But before she could run out and cheer Naruto up, there was a knock on the door. Tsunade signalled to let the happy Shizune in.

"Lady Tsunade. The Remediation dates have been set." Shizune said happily. Tsunade and Sakura simultaneously flinched with opportunity. "Who will you select to participate?" Tsunade gave a happy look to Sakura, who in turn smiled.

"I pick Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto was now eating his usual ramen at his usual time. The only difference was, his vibrant self in eating the ramen, like tomorrow would never come, was not as it was. He was saddened by the poor mission quality he was getting, and it will only affect him in terms of battling Akatsuki. He was also furious at the fact that Jiraiya's training had caused him to end up like this. His mind was swimming with all negative thoughts on the situation. One of which was jealousy. But when he began to get a headache with all the evil thoughts, a tiny light of hope came into it, as Sakura was calling from afar for him. He turned around to see his teammate, that's stuck with him from the very start, heading towards him. She took a seat next to Naruto.

"Hey, Sakura." Said Naruto thoughtlessly. On looking at Sakura, she was just bursting with anticipation for some reason. Her smile was as happy as ever, which didn't seem to affect Naruto as much.

"I knew you'd be here." She said.

"Yeah, 3 years of hanging round a Genin'll do that." Naruto said as he turned back to his ramen, eating it one pile of noodles at a time.

"Oh, you're still sad over not being a Chuunin?" Asked Sakura playfully. Naruto took this the wrong way.

"I don't need you showing off in front of me, Ms. Chuunin." Naruto said angrily yet silently. Sakura cringed at this misunderstanding.

"Sorry." She said trying to take it back.

"I'll let you off this once." Sakura sighed with relief, since he was still talking to him.

"N-Naruto? I thought I should tell you something." Sakura said. Naruto held back any thought of Sakura proclaiming romance speeches, which would instantly cheer him up.

"You've been made a Jounin?"He asked in spite. Sakura giggled.

"I wish. No, Lady Tsunade would like to see you on a pressing matter." Sakura replied with seriousness now. Naruto didn't budge, except for consuming his ramen.

"Probably trying to cheer me up to get me back on D-ranks. Tell her not interested."

"No, but maybe if you give her a chance to explain, you'll find out."

"And skip my second ramen?" Naruto asked sarcastically. Sakura, now losing her patience with Naruto's valuable opportunity, whacked him across the head with her open palm, knocking him out cold.

"It wasn't a request you idiot!" Sakura yelled, as she dragged Naruto back to the Hokage's Tower. But as she was dragging Naruto's lifeless carcas back to Tsunade, she couldn't help feel she was helping the poor soul. Soon they were in Tsunade's office, and Sakura dropped Naruto so his head banged the hard floor, waking him up. He got familiar with his surroundings as he seen he where he was. He seen Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura huddled over him.

"Did you really have to hit him?" Asked Shizune sympathetically.

"He wouldn't come, so I just used a little motivation." Sakura said, punching her palm. Naruto finally got up, massaging his head.

"Alright, what is it, Grandma?" Asked Naruto spitefully. Tsunade walked back to her chair and relaxed, taking her time to get comfortable, but only irritating Naruto more.

"I believe it is time for you to become a Chuunin." Tsunade said simply. Naruto blinked in surprise, trying to sum up the information he recieved. Like a man who has won a fortune, he started dancing across the office, giving hugs to Sakura, Shizune and Tsunade.

"Woohoo! I knew you couldn't resist making me a Chuunin. Now I can officially go on all the missions!" He yelled in praise.

"Naruto!" Tsunade yelled to make him stop. He turned to see her serious face. "I didn't say I was making you a Chuunin on this spot. I'm saying I'm giving you a chance to become a Chuunin." Naruto looked on idiotically. Sakura fumed at his idiosy.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that." Said Naruto sheepishly.

"Now, if you'll keep your headband on for more than two seconds, allow me to explain." Tsunade said. Naruto got himself together and stood beside Sakura as Tsunade explained herself. "Now you know yourself that the Chuunin Exams happen twice a year, right?"

"Yeah, but it's already passed, right? It started before I came back." Naruto said.

"Yes, Naruto, that is the case. But there is a second chance for failures." Tsunade replied. Naruto was confused. "Every time a Chuunin Exam occurs, an event called a Remediation takes place, often around a month after the original. Only those who've at least made it to the final stage of the Chuunin Exams at least once can enter." At that point, Naruto intervened.

"But I haven't been in the last Chuunin Exam, y'know that." Naruto said. Tsunade smiled.

"Not so, you misunderstood me." Tsunade said. "I said, enter the last stage at least once, not enter the final stage on the last exam. After doing some research, I discovered that your information in the Chuunin Exam was still filed when you entered, despite the chain of events that happened that year." She pushed a folder towards Naruto on her desk. "This is a folder of all of the Hidden Leaf's Genin that participated nearly three years ago. Take your time in reaching a conclusion." He approached and analyzed an image of Naruto at a young age, with the information of "Status: FAILED." (Which made Naruto scratch his head in shame.) and "Stage reached: Third." Just to be sure, he scrolled to Sakura, then Hinata and then Rock Lee. All of them had "Status: FAILED" and "Stage reached: Second." After a while, Naruto reached his conclusion.

"So I can enter the Remediation?" Asked Naruto.

"Exactly." Tsunade said. "Most of your friends went through the exact same thing, Sakura included." Naruto looked at Sakura with surprise, who smiled happily. "Do you accept this offer?"

"I dunno." Said Naruto playfully. "Of course, I wanna enter!" He ended his act with a happy yell, which made the three girls jump with fright.

"Heh, that's the spirit, Naruto." Tsunade said. "Now I'll let Shizune explain what the Remediation is about." She waved to Shizune to her side to explain.

"Yes." Shizune said as she came forward to Naruto. "Now, Naruto, the Remediation as you know takes one Genin or Chuunin, who've reached the Chuunin Exam at the last stage, from the countries that wish to participate. It is a contest to see who can perform the best Jutsu possible, and the winner will be promoted to their next level."

"So I've got to have a bunch of good Jutsu to win this thing?" Asked Naruto.

"Not exactly, I'm going to send Sakura to teach you the four stages to it." Shizune replied. Naruto was confused further. "But she'll handle the technical information. Now, every other country such as the Earth and Lightning countries take this competition seriously, taking their promoted spot as their trophy. But we, of the Hidden Leaf, use this opportunity to promote our ninja. Each country participating will have one representative to watch the ninjas showing their techniques, and come up with a verdict on who was the best."

"But wait, if the other countries treat the Remediation seriously, won't they kinda root for their own guys?" Asked Naruto.

"Thankfully, no. These are Special Jounin who only go for who they think is the best. They are completely immune to bribes and blackmails and the only way for you to be unfairly marked is if you do a bad Jutsu." Naruto thought of how good the Special Jounin are, mostly Ibiki and Anko, so he smiled in understanding, knowing they have it under control. "They'll decide amongst themselves on who's techniques were most cunning, most strongest and most resourceful."

"Heh, I'm all three of them put together with my training under my belt." Naruto remarked with a grin.

"Bear in mind Naruto, Wind Release - Rasenshuriken is still off-limits in this exam." Shizune pointed out. Naruto screamed in angst.

"Come on, Shizune! Just this once! The Jutsu doesn't hurt if I use it the first time!" Naruto begged but Shizune still kept her focus.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. Only the Hokage can lift the ban on your new-found ability. And because it is a life-threatening Jutsu, to the target and the user, we can't let you use it." Shizune explained. Naruto sunk to the ground in sadness. "At least you still have Wind Release - Rasengan."

"Alright, alright." Naruto accepted, while getting back up. "So when is the Remediation? A week? A month?" Shizune was anxious in saying her next part.

"Tomorrow." She finally came out. Naruto again bellowed in surprise.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?!" He yelled in Shizune's face, making her quite uncomfortable. He looked at a nearby clock, revealing two o' clock in the afternoon. "I've only got a day to get ready!"

"Well, I think I've covered everything about what the Remediations are about." Shizune said. "Sakura, can you teach Naruto how to actually pass it?" Sakura nodded.

"Of course." She said. While in Naruto's panic, Sakura grabbed him by his neck and dragged him away again.

"Why am I being dragged everywhere for?" Asked Naruto before the two left. Shizune sighed.

"Sakura always has a reason to punish Naruto, huh?" She remarked. Tsunade at last spoke out.

"Shizune. I also need to talk to you about something, that involves Naruto's Remediation."

"Really? What about?" She asked.

Soon, Naruto and Sakura arrived at the usual training spot, where Naruto had learned how to master his Wind Chakra. He was walking again, after he convinced Sakura to let him go. Him and Sakura perched themselves on the grass.

"Okay, so I somehow got everything Grandma and Shizune said, now it's your turn. How do I pass this thing?" Asked Naruto.

"Hmmmm...Where do I begin?" Pondered Sakura. "Ah, the four stages. Okay, Naruto, listen closely. When the Remediation starts, each competitor will face four challenges." She took a piece of paper, and wrote down four names vertically, then showed it to Naruto. "Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Summoning and Ninjutsu." She pointed to each individual name. Naruto nodded in understanding. "With Taijutsu, you need to show a good fighting talent."

"How does that work out, Sakura?" Asked Naruto. "I mean, to show good Taijutsu you need someone to be there to beat the stuffing out of them. Right?"

"Your right, Naruto." Sakura said. "But for now..." Sakura reached into her pocket and took out a scroll. Opening it onto the floor, she performed hand seals and placed her palm on it. Then with a cloud of smoke, came a sandbag dummy with the physical properties of Itachi Uchiha, most notibly because of the red eyes, black cloak with red cloud designs embroidered on them, and a black long wig for hair. "We'll practice with a dummy." Naruto was perplexed with the dummy's appearance.

"Sakura...you carry a dummy of an Akatsuki freak around?" Asked Naruto quite exhasperated. Sakura whacked him across the head.

"Only for training." She said. "Plus I get pumped up for a fight when I see that an Akatsuki member is there. Now back to work. Show me your Taijutsu abilities on it."

"Ummm...okay?" He said still quite perplexed. He stood up and ran towards it. Giving punch after kick, the sandbag kept jumping back into position, then with one last punch, Naruto finished his demonstration. "How was that?"

"Mmmmm...good." She said with slight reluctance. "But you need to punch it like it's a real ninja there." She stood up and punched the dummy with one of her Chakra enhanced punches, so the dummy went flying into the forest, and scaring Naruto. Sakura then performed a hand seal, and the dummy returned with a puff of smoke. "Now go for it again, this time, try as much combinations as you want."

"I dunno, I'm only good at this sorta stuff when I use my Shadow Clones." Naruto said.

"Oh, you can use your Shadow Clones if you want." Sakura added. "You can use any Jutsu you want, as long as you meet the requirements of the stage."

"Really?!" Asked Naruto with a twinkle in his eye. Sakura nodded and Naruto prepared himself. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" And with a puff of smoke, around twenty-one Naruto's appeared. One kicked the dummy into the air, then another kicked it upwards to a Naruto who jumped up on the first kicker's back and kicked it upwards yet again. This chain continued until at the very top, came the real Naruto. "Naruto Uzumaki's Tower of Pain!!" He yelled as he kicked the dummy back down to Earth. The Naruto's dispersed as the real one gave a thumbs-up to Sakura. She smiled in amazement.

"Perfect!" She said with happiness. "Just do a killer combo like that tomorrow, that outclasses the others and you're a shoe-in to completing the exam." Naruto then sighed in relief.

"Does the next one involve me beating up another Akatsuki sandbag?" He asked sarcastically. Sakura then made the dummy disappear.

"Not for a while yet." She said. "Next is Genjutsu." Naruto groaned.

"Great! I'm a failure at that!"

"No, no. You have two choices in this one." Sakura explained. "You can either cast a Genjutsu or go through the trials of a Genjutsu. Now, Master Jiraiya taught you how to dispel Genjutsu, right?" Naruto nodded in wonder. "I can't cast Genjutsu, and we don't have anyone around us who can, so all that can be done right now, is to memorise what Master Jiraiya told you. Oh, and if the worst case scenario happens..."

"How would I define "Worst case scenario?" Naruto butted in.

"When you find that dispelling the Genjutsu at your current state is effortless." She said. "Here's a tip." She approached Naruto and whispered into his ear. He raised his eyes in wonder and smiled.

"Man, Sakura. Why didn't I think of that?" He asked while giving a smile.

"Because, you're an idiot." She said as Naruto laughed down-heartedly. "Now, onto the third stage: Summons. This stage couldn't be easier. Just use your Summoning Jutsu to summon your Toads." Naruto pondered for a moment.

"Hey, Sakura. You took this exam, right?" Asked Naruto.

"Yeah, so?"

"Did you summon any giant animals to pass the test?" Sakura widened her eyes with surprise. Naruto looked on for an answer.

"Ummmm...no. I must've skipped that part." Sakura said while thinking on her toes. "You know I can't summon anything."

"But Sakura, I think it would be awesome if you could summon stuff. Like a giant eagle, or a man-eating bear or something." Sakura smiled in Naruto's compliment.

"Glad you think so, Naruto. But anyway, it's you and your toads you need Summoning."

"How many can you summon?"

"As much as you like. And you can use extra Jutsu to help you. Like this one candidate, who flooded the field with Water Jutsu, just to summon a horde of fishes." Naruto imagined the circumstances in which that would occur, and that strategy would be hard to counter.

"I got that stage cleared, Sakura." Naruto said.

"Aren't you going to show me?" Asked Sakura in expectation.

"Sorry, you'll have to wait. It's a surprise." Sakura then banged Naruto's head yet again.

"You idiot! I need to know for sure, so that I can know if you're ready or not! For all I know, you could summon a Tadpole and get humiliated!" Naruto got up and recovered from his head injury.

"Trust me, Sakura. I've been away with Pervy Sage for nearly three years, I think he woulda cured my summoning-of-tiny-toads-problem. I'm not asking to skip it, I'm asking for you to trust me." Sakura looked on into Naruto's eyes of pleadingness and laughed to herself.

"I must be out of my mind. Okay, but if you by so means summon a toad without an arm, I'm coming for you." Naruto smiled thankfully.

"Thanks, Sakura."

"You're welcome." She said kindly. "Now for the fourth and final stage. This one is where all the candidates can go crazy on any Jutsu they want: Ninjutsu." Naruto smiled with pride.

"I think I know what this round involves."

"Mhm, your new Rasengan. Care to demonstrate?"

"Right." Naruto summoned two Shadow Clones, while Sakura brought out the Itachi dummy. All three Naruto's looked in disgrace. "Why'd it have to be Akatsuki?" They asked together. Sakura fumed. But nonetheless, the three Narutos gathered together and started their process. While one began shaping the Rasengan ball, the other fused the Wind Chakra with the ball. Then Naruto was ready, with a clear white ball of Chakra. The two clones kicked the dummy into the air and the real Naruto jumped up and plunged the ball into it. "Wind Release- Rasengan!" Then the dummy flew into the air as the Wind Chakra did its business and shredded the dummy to pieces. Sakura smiled at this performance.

"Great job, Naruto." She said. The real Naruto approached her. "And I hereby make Naruto a Chuunin." She said playfully. Naruto joined in.

"Why thank you, Lady Sakura, I think I'll enjoy it." Sakura giggled, and then sat down on the grass.

"That's all there is to it, Naruto. All I can give you now is luck." Naruto sat beside her.

"Do you think I'll make it?"

"Of course. You're the Leaf's unpredictable ninja. If you ever find a problem, it's you that comes out of it." Naruto smiled thankfully.

"Thanks, Sakura."

During the next few hours, Naruto did his favourite activities to keep himself under control from the stress of being in a competition. This included eating ramen, taking a walk around the Hidden Leaf, and relaxing in his room. While in his room, he picked up the picture of Team 7 what it used to be. He glanced at the picture of himself, Sakura, Kakashi and Sasuke. He smiled.

"Don't worry, I'll make you all proud."

The day rolled in pretty fast, and the next day arrived too quickly. In Naruto's room came the knock on the door. Naruto opened it to see Yamato, Team 7's replacement captain.

"Oh hey, Yamato. What're you doing here?"

"Came to pick you up. I heard of your Remediation try, and I decided to volunteer to bodyguard you."

"Bodyguard?" Asked Naruto.

"I'll explain at the gates." Once dressed, Naruto and Yamato headed to the gates, where Sakura, and Team 7's latest addition: Sai stood waiting.

"Is he coming too?" He asked despisingly.

"I thought I'd go too." He said politely. "It has been a while since we last went on a mission together."

"Alright. Enough chat." Stated Yamato. "You, Naruto, are entering the Remediation. And because of the high pressure between entering Countries, the Hokage, has made me, Sakura and Sai your bodyguards. It is our job to make sure that nobody tries anything stupid before you can prove yourself." Naruto gaped.

"You could have mentioned that part." Naruto said feeling down.

"Don't worry, Naruto. Nothing will get by us." Sakura said with confidence.

"Okay, if in the occasion of Naruto being targetted, and successfully stalled, Sai, you inform the judges on Naruto's latecoming, and join the fray if you have the time. If Naruto is injured in any way, Sakura, it's your job to make sure his wounds heal fast." Yamato explained clearly. "It's my job to liberate the ninja responsible and hand them to the Special Guard." Sakura then whispered into Naruto's ear.

"They're Special Jounin who oversee the stages of ninja exams. They make sure no cheating's involved, and everyone is safe." She said. Naruto nodded in understanding.

"Any questions?" Asked Yamato. With a silence, Yamato nodded. "Okay, let's move out." But before they could go, there heard someone calling. They soon discovered it to be Shizune.

"Wait!" She called as she finally caught up. She was wearing a Jounin's set of clothes, and was puffing for breath. "I've also been sent by Tsunade to Naruto's Remediation. I thought it would be beneficial if I joined you."

"Why are you going?" Asked Naruto.

"There's requests for Medical Ninja to help tend to the injured, need be. So I volunteered to join." The team looked at each other.

"Okay." Yamato said. Shizune smiled. "Now, onward!" The now five-man team set out for the Remediation. As they were jumping along tree by tree, Naruto wondered something.

"Where is this place anyway?" Asked Naruto.

"The five Ninja Villages argued over which Country to have it in. So, to end the quarrel, they made the arena in a Country beside the Fire, Earth and Wind Countries. The Lightning and Water Countries agreed to take their journey three days earlier since they're the farthest." Yamato explained. Naruto thought about it, and rolled his eyes in bemusement. But then wondered a different question.

"I just thought of something. What about the Akatsuki? If they see a Jinchuuriki like me out in the open, they'll go for me." Sakura immediately turned her attention to the question.

"That will be the case, if they didn't know what today was." Shizune said.

"What's today?" Asked Naruto confusingly.

"Today is The Warrior's Sanctum." Shizune went on. "In the Great Ninja War, one village made a ceasefire with one of their neighbouring enemies. But the enemy used this to their advantage, and sent a ninja to assassinate the leader of the village. On that day, one of the sorcerers cursed the day so that no one must kill on that day, or suffer a misfortunate, gruesome death." Naruto was spooked by this.

"And that day is today?" He asked.

"Yes. When you were away with Master Jiraiya, were there times when he would purposely stop your training?" Shizune asked.

"Mmmmm, yeah, during this time of year, he'd spy on naked ladies more than usual, telling me to take the day off." Shizune and Sakura sighed in frustration over this, since they knew that aggrevates Tsunade.

"Well, that's because of today. If you and Jiraiya tried to defeat a rogue ninja, for example, you'd be killed by a really bad accident." Shizune went on.

"There is one good side to today though. People started taking advantage of the sorcerer's curse, and called it the Warrior's Sanctum, making ceasefires and days off alike." Yamato explained. "Akatsuki can't lay a finger on you with the risk of killing one of us, and one of them." Naruto smiled, as that took a massive burden off his shoulders. Soon they took a break at the edge of the forest, overlooking many fields.

"Do you think you stand a chance against those in the Remediation, Naruto?" Asked Sai, rather thoughtlessly.

"Dunno yet. I'll have to see what I'm up against before I go blowing my horn." Naruto said, while trying to stay cool.

"The Remediation isn't an easy feat to accomplish, I heard." Sai went on. "To defeat those from other Countries in a competition of which Jutsu beats the others, won't be easy. Especially with your new Jutsu banned from the Hokage." Naruto was then getting annoyed by Sai's supposed attempts to make him feel better.

"That isn't making me feel better, y'know." Naruto said with an angry face.

"Oh? I read in a book that telling facts to friends can boost your friendship with them."

"Sai, if a book said "Jumping off a cliff can lead to great friendship boosts", would you do it?!"

"If I can use my Ink Jutsu to save me from death, then yes." He replied. Naruto groaned with annoyance. Soon the five were back on their trail, jumping across the fields, and eventually leaving the Fire Country. They were now running up a long hill.

"How much longer til we arrive?" Asked Sakura.

"Not long now." Yamato said. "Once we get on top of this hill, we should see it in the distance." And soon the five reached the top, to see a gathering of people some distance away.

"Hey, I thought there was going to be an arena." Naruto said.

"First, the judges have to gather the competitors from each village. Once the deadline is met, you'll see your arena." Yamato explained. Naruto was confused even more.

"Don't worry, Naruto." Shizune said. "All will become clear soon." The five journeyed to the gathering, running at their usual pace across a long field of grass, when they finally arrived. "I need to report to the medical bay, now. I'll see you later. And Naruto. Good luck." Naruto gave an encouraging smile, as Shizune went her own path. As the four ventured into the organised crowd of what they would assume as high-class ninja making sure all is in order for the competition, they came to an oak table holding five ninja. They looked to be around forty each, from their headbands, they each came from the Leaf, Stone, Sand, Cloud and Mist villages, and wore robes indicating the traditional colour of their village, such as the Leaf being red and the Sand being blue.

"Presenting the Fifth Hokage's choice for the competiton: Naruto Uzumaki." Called out Yamato. The five rustled through some notes and came across one particular one.

"You are still a Genin I see, young Uzumaki." Said the Sand Judge. Naruto nodded shakingly.

"It also says here, you entered the sixty-eighth Chuunin Exam, hosted by the Hidden Leaf Village, almost three years ago." The Cloud Judge analyzed. Naruto nodded again.

"We warn you, that the Remediations are no place for inexperienced Genin. If you feel you haven't enough Jutsu to go on, now's the time to step down." Explained the Stone Judge. Naruto got angry.

"I'm not gonna quit after coming all the way out here!" He said angrily. "I'll show you how good I am, and when I do, you'll see just what I'm made of!" The judges remained unfazed.

"That's good to hear." Said the Leaf Judge. He scribbled in some notes on particular sheets. "Very well, you and your companions can wait with the others. We'll be starting in a few minutes." Yamato bowed in respect as the four made their way into the organised crowd, to an empty spot with sign saying "Leaf".

"Yeesh, I can see why they're judges, they're a bunch of stiffs." Naruto complained.

"What did you expect, Naruto? They're trained to listen only to their heads, and withstand any corruption in the exams." Sakura said.

"Remember, you three." Yamato said. "Be on your guard. Despite the Warrior's Sanctum being in place, opposing sides will either kidnap Naruto until he's disqualified, or render a body part useless so he can't perform. More is on the line than just Naruto's reputation. His life is at stake by just being here." Yamato's speech made Naruto and Sakura all the more nervous, whereas Sai wasn't affected at all. "Oh, and Naruto..." He presented to him a tiny seed-like stone, to which Naruto knew what he wanted. "Eat this, and I'll know if anything should go wrong with my Wood Clone." Naruto took the seed and swallowed it whole, then gave ones to Sai and Sakura, to which they swallowed too. "Good, now I'll know where you are when the time comes." Just then, the five judges had appeared in the centre of the crowd.

"Silence, all!!" Yelled the Mist Judge, to which everyone obeyed. "The competiton is nearing it's starting point. It is now too late to turn back now." And with that, all five formed a hand seal, and a large barrier shone around them, before dispersing.

"Nobody can leave, and nobody can interfere." Called the Leaf Judge. "Now before we begin, we will remind you. The Remediation involves performing four Jutsu. What they are and how they are done is entirely your choice. We will decide amongst us who's techniques are most beneficial during a mission or in times of war. The performance of Forbidden Jutsu is strictly prohibited here at the competition, and will only lead you to your Village's Kage to decide your fate. Now, the competition has begun!" And with that, the five again formed a hand seal, and the ground around them began to shapeshift.

"Ughh!! What's happening?!" Bellowed Naruto, as him, Sakura and Sai were losing their balance on the morphing of the field. Yamato however remained perfectly still. Soon, the entire area around them formed into a circular arena with stair-seats at the edges.

"All those who are spectating, go to the stands. All those on duty, remain at the sides. And all those participating, remain where you are." Called the Stone Judge. Yamato and Sai climbed the stand, but Sakura remained with Naruto a few more seconds.

"Good luck, Naruto." Sakura whispered.

"Don't worry 'bout me, Sakura. I'll be alright." Naruto replied. Sakura smiled and ran to the stands. All that were left in the field were the five judges, Naruto and four more unknown people. They were undoubtedly from other of the Five Ninja Villages: Sand, Mist, Stone and Cloud. The ninja from the Mist Village was a girl with clear blue shoulder length hair, pale eyes, wearing her headband to her neck, and wearing an emerald green vest, matching skirt, and a black knee-high Kunoichi boots. The ninja from the Sand Village was a young looking child, possibly a Genin too, with dark brown hair, scared-looking blue eyes, his headband on his forehead and was wearing a light white long-sleeved shirt with a sash holding it in place, and a matching baggy set of trousers. The ninja from the Stone Village however, was a feat to behold. He was a much older one, around eighteen, with his long blonde hair in a ponytail going down to his neck. His eyes were cold and mysterious. His headband was nowhere to be found, but his clothes indicated he was from the Stone Village, as he wore a dark grey Chuunin jacket and a black overalls, much resembling Shikamaru's, and on his jacket was a pinky-sized blue crystal, that hung over his scroll pouch. And finally, the ninja from the Cloud Village was too a menacing figure. He had long purple hair which went over his left eye, and his eyes were a steady green colour. He wore his headband to his forehead, as his clothes were a dirty yellow cape, with another Chuunin jacket, this time, dark orange. He wore no clothes under the Chuunin jacket, but wore a a baggy matching trousers to his Chuunin jacket. All of the competitors looked at one another to analyze certain characteristics of each other.

"The five competitors..." Begun the Sand Judge. "Naruto Uzumaki of the Hidden Leaf Village." Sakura, Sai and Yamato cheered of course, with a few others in the crowd. Naruto waved shyly. "Kenran Susamajii of the Hidden Mist Village." The girl remained motionless as a crowd cheered her on. "Kiokure Sunata of the Hidden Sand Village." Quite a few cheered on the timid child, as he waved shyly as well. "Tora Fukuwa of the Hidden Stone Village." The young adult, known as Tora, raised a fist to the crowd as a fair number cheered for him. "And Arashi Masamune of the Hidden Cloud Village." Out of all the crowd, he got the most cheer, as he raised a smile, and instantly putting himself on Naruto's hating-list. "Gather to the centre, competitors, and wish each other fair play." The five formed a circle, as Naruto stood beside Kenran and Kiokure."

"So, you must be the Leaf's Chuunin." Said Arashi without emotion.

"Who me?" Asked Naruto. "Hmph, nah, plain old Genin." The other four turned their attention to him, as Naruto looked on clumsily.

"Y-You're the one who saved the Kazekage, aren't you?" Asked Kiokure suddenly.

"Yeah, guilty." Naruto replied. This instantly raised eyebrows from Arashi, Tora and Kenran.

"Then why, may I ask, are you still a Genin?" Asked Kenran curiously. "Those that save a Kage's life are lucky to be a Chuunin."

"I kinda know the guy personally, so I came rushing for him." Tora stared mindlessly at Naruto.

"I'll keep my eye on you." He said with an emotion of inner hate.

"Well, like the scary dudes said, wish you all fair play." Naruto said exuberantly.

"Well said." Said Arashi, as Kiokure nodded.

"You too, Uzumaki." Said Kenran. But Tora didn't mutter a word, as he walked away. "Yeesh, what's his problem?"

"Now, may the competition begin!" Spoke out the five judges, as the crowd cheered on their five warriors.


	7. The Remediation Starts! Naruto's True Te

**The Remediation Starts - Naruto's True Test**

Naruto was even more fired up after the announcement, and smiled with anxiety.

"Kenran Susamajii, you will perform Stage 1 first. All others, do your best to stay out of her way." Announced the Sand Judge, as Naruto wondered what he meant by the last part. The five walked over to a pedestal in the far end of the arena, and took seats next to the oak table that they were sitting on previously.

"This stage involves Taijutsu." Announced the Mist Judge. "The challengers will perform a Taijutsu combination, using any Jutsu necessary for the assault. The more times they attack, the better they will be assessed. Any questions?" Gullably, Naruto raised his hand.

"How are we supposed to do a combo with no one there?" Asked Naruto sheepishly.

"That factor will be dealt with shortly." Announced the Leaf Judge. The five performed a hand seal, and on the ground, rose a hand. Naruto got a fright from it's sudden appearance. Soon the hand crawled out from the ground, to reveal a rocky golem, around the same size as a human. "Earth Release - Soldier Summoning, makes a good substitute for regular humans." He waved a hand for Kenran to perform. She stepped forward from the row of competitors and performed a series of hand seals. Naruto began to get a bad feeling from her.

"Water Release - Great Flood!" She screamed, and she placed her hand on the ground, making water rise from the ground. Naruto and Kiokure were stunned by this Jutsu. Soon the entire field was flooded, with the spectators shielded by the five judges' secondary barrier, but the other four were engulfed by the water. It wasn't after a few seconds of the other four not emerging that made Sakura worry.

"Where is he?" Asked Sakura worriedly. At that point, Naruto emerged, along with Arashi, Tora and Kiokure. They used their Chakra to stand on the water, but was confused when they didn't see Kenran. The Earth Soldier was also on the surface, so there was no reason to be submerged. Then, there came a splash around the soldier, as he was kicked into the air, and Kenran jumping to her target.

"Dolphin Assault!" She yelled, and began spinning and simultaneously kicking the soldier many times. And when the soldier was starting to fall due to gravity, she grabbed the soldier by the foot and held the golem chest-to-chest, as she whirled around and collided with the water, making large waves and shaking the other four.

"Quite the combo." Mummbled Arashi. The water dispersed suddenly, and Kenran was seen standing over a small pile of rubble, unmistakingly the soldier. A vast majority of the audience clapped impressivly.

"Very good, Kenran." Said the Stone Judge. "Why would this technique be your first choice during times of war?"

"I always fight in water. It is a perfect terrain to catch opponents off-guard. My Dolphin Assault is a perfect way to do this."

"And what would happen if you had no water?" Asked the Mist Ninja.

"I simply make some. My Great Flood technique mixes my Chakra with the tiny liquid particles underground, to make tremendous amounts, so no matter what terrain I find myself, I will always have the advantage." The five wrote a few notes on their sheets of paper after that long speech. Kenran walked over to Naruto. "Beat that, Naruto." She said with a smirk. Naruto frowned.

"I don't need no stinking fancy ninja talk to beat you." Naruto countered.

"Next, Naruto Uzumaki. Perform your Taijutsu attack." Announced the Leaf Judge. Sakura looked on expectantly. The same rock golem was summoned. Naruto stepped forward.

"With pleasure." Naruto replied to the expectant Kenran. He formed his hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He yelled, as over fifty Naruto's appeared.

"What? That's more back in training." Sakura said.

"He must be pulling out all stops." Sai remarked. "That girl, Kenran, must have provoked Naruto somehow. But perhaps, Naruto can overcome Kenran." Sakura kept her eyes on all fifty Naruto's as they all charged for the golem. Two kicked it into the air simultaneously. Just as before, a clone jumped into mid-air and kicked it back up, but was accompanied by a second clone, which kicked simultaneously.

"I get it now!" Sakura said with amazement. "This was the same technique he showed me in training, instead with one Clone at a time. His attack strength has doubled with every kick."

"But it can also be risky." Yamato butted in. "One Shadow Clone has to jump to the target in the original combination, that was hard enough. Now that two is there, their timing must be flawless, or the technique will go haywire." Sakura seen with her keen eyes that the Naruto's were indeed struggling to keep the attack going until the very end. It wasn't until the 47th and 48th clone had kicked the soldier into the air that she knew the technique was near it's climax. As expected, the real Naruto and a Clone jumped to the top, and were ready for it.

"Naruto Uzumaki's Double Tower Pain!!" They yelled simultaneously. They kicked the golem, but instead of letting it land on it's own, the two held their foots under it's jaw, since it was falling head first. The three were falling like a comet back to the ground, making that much of an impact, the ground cracked beneath it's momentum. A thick cloud appeared on impact, and when the dust settled, a lone Naruto was there, with the head of the stone golem torn apart. Naruto was breathing frantically. Then suddenly, the crowd erupted in cheers from that demonstration. Naruto could hear Sakura giving her cheers, while seeing Yamato and Sai clapping honourably. Naruto gave a wave to the audience and faced the judges.

"Excellent display, Naruto." Said the Cloud Judge. "Shadow Clones. Won't that be dangerous for your Chakra storage?"

"No way." Naruto said while breathing hard. "Thing is, I got tonnes of Chakra to go round. I can go as far as two hundred clones." At that, the judges gaped, as well as a gasp from the audience.

"The technique you performed. Naruto Uzumaki's Double Tower Pain. Why would you use it?" Asked the Leaf judge.

"I'm not very fond of it. I only go for it when I feel like showing off my stuff. When it comes down to business, Ninjutsu's kinda my game." Naruto replied. The five raised their eyebrows.

"We look forward to your performance in Stage 4, Naruto Uzumaki." Said the Sand judge. He gave a smile and walked back to the other challengers, giving another smile back to Kenran, who frowned deeply. "Next is Kiokure Sunata!" The timid child from the Sand Village, flinched and looked up.

"Oh, ummm, okay!" The child said frightened slightly. "I don't think I'll be as good as Mr. Naruto, but, I'll try."

"Yeesh, Mr. Naruto?" Thought Naruto. "Let's hope Gaara knows what he's doing when sending out this kid." Kiokure stepped forward. He kneeled down, giving the audience a sense of confusion.

"What's he doing?" Wondered Sakura. Kiokure then poured a handful of sand onto the arena grounds, which he took from a separate ninja tool bag. He performed a series of hand signs slowly, and focussed on one.

"Ninja Art - Sand Katana." He whispered, and soon the handful of sand swirled into his hand, as it formed into a long hardened sand ninja blade. As the third soldier was set up, he charged recklessly towards the golem, and did insane slashes to it. But to everyone's surprise, the golem fell to pieces. He too got a handful of claps.

"Not bad, boy." Remarked the Mist judge. "You're a tad reckless when in Taijutsu. Did the Kazekage go through with this with you?"

"Y-Yes. Master Gaara taught me to use sand in fights. I don't use the amount he does, but I try my best to make him proud." The Sand judge smirked.

"Very good, Kiokure." Said the Leaf Ninja. He stepped back with the challengers. Naruto smiled at Kiokure's loyalty to Gaara. When he came back, Naruto patted his shoulder.

"I'm sure he would be." He whispered. Kiokure gave him a smile.

"Next is Arashi Masamune." Announced the Leaf judge. He stepped forward and cracked his neck.

"Step aside little guys, time for you guys to see the thunder." Arashi said confidently. As the earth soldier was remade, Arashi charged for it, and grabbed the rocky pillar that was it's neck. He focussed for a few seconds and lightning raged around them. Another second later, Arashi's hand made a perfect fist, as he crushed the soldier's neck, making it fall down and crumble. He cracked his neck again. "I don't need fancy speeches or fancy footwork to perform my best. All I gotta do is get my hand on my target's neck, and boop, game over." Everyone in the arena's confounds were shocked by this amazing feat, including Naruto, who was gobsmacked.

"What just happened? He just grabbed the thing's neck and crushed it, like toilet paper." Sakura said also very stunned.

"Advanced form of Taijutsu." Yamato explained. "Using Lightning-Elemental Chakra to boost the user's strength tenfold. The Kage of the Hidden Cloud Village is an expert in such techniques, and must've passed it over to Arashi."

"I can sense he will be a difficult obstacle for Naruto to overcome." Sai said emotionlessly.

"But Naruto's Wind beats Arashi's Lightning, so he's still got a chance." Sakura said.

"Good point." Yamato said. Arashi walked back to the other competitors once being praised by the judges.

"What d'ya think? Told you you're gonna see some thunder." Arashi mocked the other four.

"You're gonna see stars when I'm through with you!" Kenran yelled uncontrollably.

"Yeah! I'm gonna totally destroy you when this is over!" Naruto also yelled along with Kenran.

"Don't get so cocky." Arashi taunted. "Tora, you're up." The enigmatic figure called Tora, walked forward. The judges created another Earth Soldier. To start off he ran at an incredible speed, and jumped as higher than the stadium. Then, like a meteor, he crashed into the soldier and devestating the entire field. Naruto, Kenran, Kiokure and Arashi were blown back by the extreme force, until Kenran conjured a water barrier to protect them from it's power. When the force died down, as well as the thick dust cloud, all that was left was a huge crater, in which Tora was in the middle, and the stone soldier was nowhere to be seen, most likely disintegrated from the full impact of the attack.

"What the heck was that?!" Yelled Naruto completely gobsmacked. Kiokure was stunned the most, with eyes wide open and very shaky. Kenran growled under her breath and Arashi simply grinned.

"I think this competition just got a little more interesting." He remarked. The crater vanished as the judges morphed the field back to normal. Tora was brought back to the surface in front of the judges table.

"Very powerful Taijutsu you possess." The Leaf judge said. Then on closer inspection of his fist, it was severely bruised. "But the pain from your fist must be it's downside."

"I don't believe in pain." Tora said mysteriously. "Pain is just a feeling you encounter. I've learned to live with it." Naruto was spooked by his voice.

"Nonetheless, you will have to be healed." Said the Mist judge. Two Medical-Ninja came, and performed a simple Healing Jutsu to bring Tora's hand back to it's normal skin colour. "You may return to the others." Tora walked to the others, being casted a variety of looks. Naruto and Kenran: anger. Kiokure: fear. And Arashi: anxiety.

"The first stage of the Remediation is over. Everyone has performed their Taijutsu attacks, and will move on to Stage 2: Genjutsu." Announced the Cloud Judge.

"How is Naruto's Genjutsu?" Asked Sai to Sakura.

"I don't know, hopefully good." Sakura said.

"This time it will be different. The five competitors will be split in two teams. One for cancelling and one for casting with their choice. They must work as a team to stop their attacker's Genjutsu skills, or turn the tables on them and make them stop their attacks." Explained the Stone judge. "If they choose to negate them, they will be have to decide which one is illusion, and which is reality." Then, five ninja jumped in front of the judge's table, facing the five competitors. "Now, which will you decide? Naruto Uzumaki?"

"Oh, ummm, cancelling." Naruto said.

"Kenran?"

"Casting." Kenran said confidently with a smile.

"Kiokure?"

"Ummm...cancelling." He said frightened.

"Arashi?"

"Cancelling." Arashi said with a loud voice.

"And Tora?"

"Casting." He said uncaringly.

"Very well." Said the Sand judge. "All those casting, remain at the sides, while the cancelling team, begin!" Three of the five ninja separated and went to the three competitors. Naruto went face-to-face with a ninja from the Hidden Stone Village. He tried to punch him away, but he only punched an illusion. Him, Kiokure and Arashi hudled together back-to-back.

"Try not to get in the way kids." Arashi said confidently.

"Just don't get in the way of ours!" Naruto said. Then around them came darkness. The three were surrounded by a blanket of pitch black.

"I-I don't like this." Kiokure said in fear. From the darkness came hundreds of Kunai. Arashi was first to notice.

"Release!" He yelled and the Kunai vanished.

"They were illusions." Naruto said. Then more Kunai came. "But they aren't!" Yelled Naruto. He threw a Kunai attached with a paper bomb towards the onslaught and exploded causing them to lose momentum and drop to the floor.

"Good call." Arashi said. "I think that's the Kunai part out the road. We should probably stay more alert." The three looked around frantically.

"See anything?" Asked Naruto.

"Nothing yet." Whispered Arashi. Then from the shadows came the three ninja. Arashi tried to punch them away, but it was again an illusion.

"There they are!" Yelled Kiokure as he tried to throw a Kunai at them, but it was again an illusion.

"This is getting us nowhere!" Yelled Naruto in frustration. He formed a hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He yelled as hundreds of Naruto's appeared.

"Go find 'em!" He yelled. But when the hundreds of Naruto's went to investigate, they were slowly lost in the darkness. Then there came many cries, as all the Shadow Clones were killed one by one.

"That isn't smart." Arashi warned. Then from the shadows came hundreds more of the attacking ninja. "Which one's the real one?!" But they couldn't stop to find out, as the three fired hundreds of tiny thin needles at the three, that pierced the three hundreds at a time, weakening them all.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Screamed Kiokure in pain.

"Wait a minute." Thought Naruto. He focussed his Chakra to stop for a split second, and the pain vanished. "They were tricking us with fake needles." Naruto said.

"What?!" Yelled Arashi. "I thought they were real! But how are we supposed to get out of here?!" Naruto smiled, and the hundreds of ninja returned for more. Then something grabbed the three's feet, and the hundreds of ninja turned to their respective three.

"Use your attacks!" He yelled as he kicked one ninja, Arashi used a punch enhanced by his Lightning on another and Kiokure formed a spear using his sand to stab another on the shoulder.

"What just happened there?!" Yelled Arashi.

"I happened." Naruto said. "Y'know that big Shadow Clone fest I used? I took that chance to bury three underground. Then, when those freakshows charged, I had them come up and force their Chakra into you, and the rest is history.

"Wow, you're smart, Naruto." Said Kiokure amazingly. Naruto grinned, remembering it was Sakura's whispered advice that saved them.

"Seems I underestimated you, Uzumaki." He said encouragingly. "Now those clowns should let us go now. We hit them, so that cancels the Jutsu." They waited a few moments, but the blackness didn't fade. Instead, the three enemy ninja came from the shadows.

"You won't be leaving just yet!" One male voice yelled with anticipation. The three formed a hand seal, and Naruto, Arashi and Kiokure were overwhelmed by hundreds of flailing vines that came from underground, and bound them all.

"Ugh! What the?!" Yelled Naruto.

"We have our orders. To kill those that stand in Master Tora's way" Said a second ninja with a female voice. The Stone ninja laughed heartedly, while the other two, scrubbed something from their forehead protectors, from the Mist and Cloud vilages, to reveal they were all Stone ninja.

"They're traitors!" Arashi yelled, trying to cut himself loose, but to no avail. The three ninja laughed like hyenas to the three's struggling and crushing. After watching Naruto, Kiokure and Arashi's painful torments from the outside, Sakura grew suspicious.

"Something's wrong. The Genjutsu trial should be over by now." She said. Yamato too investigated.

"What?! They're put under a Rank A Genjutsu!" He yelled seriously. "Chuunin or under can't handle Genjutsu of that calibre! If Naruto doesn't escape soon he'll be killed!" Sakura heard enough and took action, she tried to run to the stadium, to force her Chakra in Naruto and save him, but the barrier the Judges cast threw her back.

"There's nothing we can do!" Sai said seriously.

"It's hopeless!" Yelled Kiokure inside the Genjutsu, being crushed. But then, Naruto began conjuring a plan. He seen his left palm was not covered by the immense vines. He began focussing his Wind Chakra to his palm, and released it, making a large gash to it. It may have caused his undeniable pain, but the vines dispersed and Naruto called forth a Shadow Clone as the two focussed their Chakra on each other's palm, creating a large Rasengan. They charged for the trecherous three with it.

"Giant Ball Rasengan!" They yelled as they plunged it in the centre ninja, and with the giant force it conjured, the other two were caught in the blast. The darkness fell and Kiokure and Arashi were free and they were back in the stadium.

"Y-You saved us?" Arashi said with shock

"Well, it's kinda against my nature to let a guy get killed." Naruto replied while gasping for breath. But something befell his mind: The Warrior's Sanctum. If his Giant Ball Rasengan had done it's job, he had killed not one, but three lives, meaning it's curse will be inflicted on him. He approached the three ninja, but before he could begin the analysis, Shizune was there first.

"Don't worry, Naruto. They're still alive. Only just." Shizune informed him, while a number of Medical Ninja, including herself, were performing Healing Jutsu on the three. Naruto sighed in relief. The Leaf judge approached Shizune and the three Stone attackers.

"We'll take a short intermission. Send Medical-Ninja to tend to the target's injuries. And supply Naruto Uzumaki with a Food Pill, his technique was provoked, and therefore the Chakra consuption of the attack must be replenished." He announced. The barrier disabled and Naruto's three comrades ran to his aid.

"Naruto, are you alright?!" Screamed Sakura in worry.

"Ugh...yeah, fine. Just a little exhausted from Giant Ball Rasengan. It still does a number on me." He replied.

"I'll heal your wounds." Sakura offered. And with the giving of a Food Pill to Naruto, she began healing his injuries, particularly the one caused by his Wind Chakra.

"Why didn't the judges foresee this attack happening?" Asked Sai emotionlessly.

"Stone ninja are particularly hard to predict. I think we all got a taste of that with Tora." Yamato said.

"Yeah, they mentioned something about protecting that weirdo." Naruto informed them while Sakura was still healing his injuries.

"Hmmm...They must've been trying to eliminate the competition without Tora raising a finger." Yamato predicted. "You seen his injuries after Stage 1. Whatever he has planned for the next two must take a real toll on his body."

"So those attackers wanted to prevent Tora attacking his body like that?" Sakura asked.

"Sounds possible." Yamato replied.

"Whatever he's got cooked up his sleeve, I'll beat it!" Naruto said boldly.

"You just took a beating from Tora's peers." Sai said. "Not only that, you were accompanied by two other allies. What chance do you have against Tora himself alone?"

"I don't know." Naruto said abruptly. "But if there's a will to beat someone, there's always a way for me!" Sakura smiled with Naruto's enthusiasm, as well as Yamato. Yet Sai was just as confused. But before Sai could ask what he means, they were joined by none other than Arashi.

"Yo, Naruto." He said, grabbing their attention.

"Hey." He replied. "Came here to gloat how you had everything under control?"

"Nope." Arashi said. "Came here to say, thanks. Y'know, for saving my rectum from those Stone guys."

"Heh-he, it's no bigey." Naruto said while scratching his head.

"But know this, Naruto. When this competition ends, I'll have repaid my debt." He said sternly. "'Till then, happy Jutsu-ing." And with that he returned to the other three competitors.

"Right, you're good to go, Naruto." Sakura said while at last sealing his open wounds. "You don't perform till after Tora and Kenran, so take this opportunity to rest."

"Whatever the doctor orders." Naruto replied as he went to the competitors, while the other three raced back to the stands.

"Now that the three assassins have been apprehended and, thankfully, unscathed, the Remediation will continue." Announced the Sand judge.

"The Genjutsu trial is not yet complete, as Tora and Kenran are yet to perform." The Mist judge spoke up. Tora and Kenran stepped forward, with Kenran giving evil glares at Tora. The other two Genjutsu users ran for them. And in a split second, the two vanished.

"Wh-Where'd they go?!" Panicked Kiokure.

"Genjutsu?" Naruto proposed.

"You bet-cha." Arashi said. "Keep your eyes peeled, you might just learn a trick or two." He tried to see, but there was nothing to see, except Tora and Kenran. Then Tora formed a hand seal and the two Genjutsu experts reappeared, writhing on the ground and screaming uncontrollably.

"Whoa." Naruto said while stunned. "That must be one evil Genjutsu."

"Hey! I thought we were supposed to use our Genjutsus together, you jerk!" Scolded Kenran. Tora ignored her and went back to the competitors, while she took the honours in releasing the Genjutsu.

"What did you do to them, Tora?" Asked Naruto seriously.

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me unless I showed you." Tora said. Naruto was beginning to get more freaked out by the second with Tora.

"Very well. Ms. Susamajii will be moved to the cancelling team, since she never had a proper chance to show her abilities." Said the Cloud judge.

"What?! Come on!" Kenran protested.

"The aim of the test, Ms. Susamajii, is to eliminate both enemies using Genjutsu. Seeing as your partner did that first, you had to cancel it, thus you were moved." Replied the Cloiud judge. Kenran frowned.

"Tora's really starting to get on my nerves!" Kenran thought to herself.

"Now, Stage 3 will commence." Announced the Stone judge. "In this stage, the contestants will perform a Summoning of their choice. They may perform a Ninjutsu of their choice to suit the needs of the Summoning. However, they will have to battle one of our own." With that, they did a series of hand seals, and from the rocky arena ground, came a large behemoth-sized rock demon, with long arms that supported itself to the ground, long legs that crouched on the arena floor, and the size of it towered over the arena. "The first to perform will be Kiokure." The young child flinched.

"What? I'm performing first?" He asked. "A-Against that thing?"

"It's okay, man." Naruto encouraged him. "Just go out there and show them what you're made of." Kiokure smiled and nodded. Stepping forward, he tried desperately to remember the hand signs for it, by imitating them.

"Begin." Announced the Leaf judge. Kiokure took a Kunai from his pocket and cut his thumb using the point. He closed his eyes, trying to mask the pain, then he performed the correct hand seals.

"Summoning Jutsu" He cried. Then came a large cloud of smoke, as the creature Kiokure had summoned was an equal sized red salamander, with a tail the length and thickness of that of a dragon. It stood in the same position as the rock demon, and it towered over the other competitors, while Kiokure sat on it's head. "Oujamander, I summoned you so we can defeat this giant demon."

"Got it!" The large salamander said. "Just leave it to me!" It inhaled a large breathe, and sprayed a large amount of green thick liquid, which poured all over the demon, and all of it stuck to it. It tried moving to counter attack, but couldn't, and soon, steam began leaking from it, and crumbled to the ground. The audience clapped spectacularly, knowing the strength of the lizard.

"Yes! You did great, Oujamander!" Kiokure said with happiness.

"Anytime, kid. Say hi to Gaara for me, 'kay?" It said while placing Kiokure back to the ground, as he waved goodbye.

"Very impressive display." Commented the Mist judge. "Summoning a Salamander is very rare, especially for a Genin such as yourself." Kiokure smiled happily.

"The Kazekage taught me how to summon beasts in battle." He said.

"It seems you have a lot of potential, young one." Spoke out the Cloud judge. Kiokure walked back with an even bigger smile on his face.

"Gaara's taught you good." Naruto added mentally.

"Next is Arashi." Spoke out the Sand judge. Arashi stepped forth.

"Don't worry, kid, you're not the only one that had a Kage teach you a thing or two." He said to Kiokure. The same stone demon was summoned and Arashi didn't spare any time cutting his thumb and summoning his ally. "Summoning Jutsu!" He yelled, and with a cloud of smoke, there came another equally sized grey and black ox, with only one horn, yet on it's forehead. It's large body covered a vast majority of the field, and Arashi stood on it's head.

"Alright, take that thing down."

"Very well!" Bellowed the huge ox. From it's horn came an electric charge focussed into a ball. Then it fired it's charge at the golem, right into it's torso. At first, it didn't do anything, but then, the golem exploded with rocks flying everywhere.

"Good job, dude." Said Arashi while patting it's head, then it vanished in a puff of smoke as Arashi landed on the ground with his feet.

"Excellent display, Arashi." Stated the Leaf judge. "Next is Kenran!" Arashi walked back to the others while Kenran readied herself.

"Great, she's gonna flood the field again." Naruto thought. And just as predicted, Kenran used her Great Flood on the field. The other four knew this would come, and jumped up to the surface and stood on it. The judges them summoned a third rock demon. As expected, Kenran remained in it's depths. Then there came a large air bubble of water that emerged into the surface, popping on impact.

"She must've summoned her creature." Kiokure identified. And as expected, water rose up and from it emerged a giant blue whale, with many markings on it's flesh, and on top of it was Kenran, riding on it's back.

"Alright Kujira, water wave!" Kenran commanded.

"Yes!" Said the whale. From it's mouth came a giant water current that collided with the golem. It tried to fight back the water, but the erosion crumbled it into tiny pieces.

"Oh yeah! Way to go!" Cheered Kenran. The water drained away and so did the whale as it disappeared.

"Very good, Kenran. You're water-based attacks proved useful yet again." The Stone judge announced. Kenran smiled happily and returned to the group. "Now is the time to test the remaining ninja! Naruto and Tora will use their Summonings to battle!"

"What?!" Yelled the Leaf team. Naruto looked over to Tora and gave him a cold stare.

"This can't be happening!" Naruto thought. Him and Tora stepped forward, found a space between themselves and faced each other.

"Begin!" Yelled the five judges. Naruto remembered what Jiraiya taught him on Summoning Jutsu. He began to focus all his Chakra into his palms, and when ready, he cut his thumb with his tooth, performed the hand seals and placed his hand on the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!" Yelled Naruto. Black circles formed all the way around Naruto, and from it came the giant chief toad Gamabunta, smoking his oversized pipe.

"Wow, he did it." Thought Sakura, who had doubt in his abilities.

"Hey, Naruto!" Yelled the giant toad. "What's the meaning 'a summoning me all the way out here?!" Naruto grew panic.

"It's a long story, but I need you to help me beat that creep down there!" Naruto replied. Gamabunta inspected Tora all the way at the bottom, who performed his Summoning Jutsu. What came forth really bemused Naruto, Gamabunta and even the entire audience: a giant red and black scorpion. It's large pincers sliced with anticipation, while it readied it's giant tail.

"Hmph. I think I'll ask for a price this time." Said Gamabunta crossing his arms. "What will you give me for my services?" Naruto thought hard for something good, and thought of a good one.

"If you fight and win, I'll tell Pervy-Sage not to talk to the human girls while training." Naruto offered with a deep grin. Gamabunta massaged his chin for a moment and raised his palm to Naruto.

"You got yourself a deal, kid!" Gamabunta said. Naruto grinned and slapped his palm, enforcing the deal. The toad readied itself by extracting it's giant sword. "Alright yah giant cockroach, time ter go back to that rock you call a home!" The scorpion hissed and attempted to use it's pincers to attack, but Gamabunta blocked it with his sword. But while his hands were full, the tail made a strike for him.

"Watch out!" Warned Naruto. Gamabunta saw the attack coming, and spat a giant ball of water on the scorpion, pushing it back, releasing it's grip on Gamabunta's sword, and cancelling the attack.

"Good call, kid." Said Gamabunta thankfully.

"Use Earth Shatter!" Tora yelled, as he gathered himself together. The scorpion whacked it's pincers to the ground, creating a wave of earth flowing towards the frog duo. Gamabunta jumped to a high height, evading the attack. As he landed, he prepared his sword for a stab to the back for the scorpion, but it used it's tail to whack Gamabunta away, with Naruto gripping on for his life.

"The thing's got strength." Gamabunta said while massaging his arm the scorpion whacked with. "Time to fight fire with fire, if you get my meaning."

"Yeah, I get you." Naruto said, as he prepared a paper bomb. Gamabunta inhaled and spat forth a large amount of oil towards the scorpion, and at the same time, Naruto threw the explosive at the spray of liquid, igniting it in combustable flames. The scorpion, seeing the attack coming, whacked the ground again, this time creating a wall of earth, blocking out the attack. Naruto knew that was the last straw and decided to take action himself. He formed his hand seal.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He said and created a clone. That clone then began circling his Chakra into his Rasengan ball.

"What're you doing, kid?!" Gamabunta yelled.

"I don't have time to explain, fire me towards Tora, and hurry." Naruto commanded.

"You sure have a nag for death wishes, kid." Gamabunta remarked. But nonetheless, he used his tongue to wrap around Naruto's torso, and fired him towards the scorpion. Before all of Gamabunta's flames were extinguished, Naruto swung the Rasengan ball into a deep part of the flames, burning his hand maybe, but the Rasengan ball turned into a ball of flames.

"It worked." Thought Naruto as he was heading towards the scorpion. when the earth wall subsided, Tora was amazed to see Naruto emerge through it. "Fire Release - Rasengan!!" And then plunged the fireball into the forehead of the scorpion, creating a large scale explosion. Naruto and Tora were flown back on impact, but the scorpion was too weakened that it disappeared back to it's original Summoning grounds. Gamabunta caught the weakened Naruto and placed him on the ground. "Thanks, Gamabunta, I owe yah one."

"Anytime, kid. Now don't go back on your end a' the deal, Little Jiraiya's not to step ten feet of the toad girls while trainin'." Naruto laughed weakingly and gave Gamabunta the thumbs-up, before he too vanished.

"How did Naruto use a different elemental Rasengan?" Sakura said amusingly.

"That toad's flames must have been the cause." Sai said. "Mostly, if I recall, Naruto uses two Clones to make his Wind Rasengan. Instead of a Clone, Naruto used the toad's flames to mix his Chakra to create a Fire Elemental attack."

"Though it is risky to use." Yamato continued. "Look at his hand, it's burned." Sakura inspected Naruto's hand to have many burn marks. "Nothing the medics can't fix, but if that doesn't kill him, then that explosion he created will. Not to mention until he can control the Fire Element, he'll have to rely on the Chief Toad to use it, which will often be against large opponents, like the scorpion Tora used. Oh, and if I'm correct, that attack was unexplored until now, so if the attack failed, Naruto would've been gravely injured, or worse." Sakura seen that Naruto was injured through that last attack, not just on his hand, but his whole body too, which made her worry.

"We'll take a short intermission for our competitors to recooperate." Announced the Mist judge. At once, Sakura, Sai, Yamato and Shizune came to Naruto's aid.

"What were you thinking, Naruto?!" Screamed Sakura in worry. "You could've been killed doing that attack!"

"Heh, I knew you'd say that." Naruto replied, while Shizune performed her advanced Healing Jutsu on Naruto.

"You mean _that _was the secret surprise you wanted to show me?" Asked Sakura flattered, Naruto nodded.

"It was still unwise to perform a Jutsu neither me nor the Hokage has seen." Yamato explained. "As Sakura mentioned, the attack could have failed, and you would've been wide open to the scorpion's attack."

"Hmph. No matter what Jutsu I use, people always say it should be forbidden, or it should be used wisely." Mocked Naruto, crossing his arms and frowning. Sakura, sensing where this discussion will eventually lead to, decided to take a light-hearted approach.

"But, the most important thing is, you're safe, and you defeated Tora's summon." Sakura said with a smile. Naruto got out of his mood and smiled back.

"Okay, you're ready." Shizune said. "And good luck with the last round." Shizune said patting Naruto's shoulder.

"You've done well so far, don't ruin it now!" Sakura said inspiringly.

"Not on your life, Sakura!" Naruto replied with an equal tone of voice. The four returned to their positions while Naruto suddenly remembered Tora. He turned to see the Stone ninja sitting on the ground, while being healed by Medical Ninja. He gave an insane look of anger towards Naruto, which spooked him even more. Once Tora was fully healed, the five reunited.

"Good going, Naruto." Kenran said with pride. "You beat Tora."

"Ah, it was nothing." Naruto said modestly.

"Now I see why this kid managed to save the Sand's Kage." Thought Arashi.

"Stage 4, the final and most daring of all will now begin." Announced the Sand judge. "In this round the five will perform Ninjutsu of their choosing. But to prove it's strength, they must face..." But before saying what it was, the five judges performed another series of hand seals and from the ground came around twenty stone soldiers. "Them." The audience were bewildered by what they had to face. "Now, first to perform is Kenran." The Mist girl smiled and stepped forward.

"Just to make it more interesting..." Kenran said with a grin. She formed different hand seals than the one expected. From the ground came balls of water equal to the amount of stone soldiers, that formed into clones of herself. "Water Clones, hold them off." The clones charged and held the warriors in place.

"She isn't using her Great Flood?" Thought Naruto. Then, Kenran started doing many hand seals, of many varieties. Then, focussing on one hand seal, the ground in front of her cracked and from it came a large water-shaped dragon.

"Water Release - Water Dragon Jutsu!" She yelled, when the dragon was fully visible.

"No way, Kakashi's move!" Thought Naruto, remembering Kakashi performing that same Jutsu on himself and Sakura. The same effects happened. The stone soldiers were washed away by the impact, with the Water Clones liquifying once struck. The field was once again flooded because of the Jutsu. The four competitors emerged from the water soaked yet again.

"Come on, Kenran! I just got these dry again!" Naruto yelled angrily. Kenran jumped out the water and stood on it's surface.

"Can't help it. I'm a Water Ninja. I like using Water." She said with a grin. But then the flood was dispersed under her command. "Comes to show, I don't need my Great Flood to take out opponents. All I need is fertile ground, and a handful of opponents."

"Impressive." Remarked the Leaf judge. "Next is Kiokure." The timid child stepped forward, replacing Kenran, who gave him a pat on the head. The stone soldier battalion were replaced and were ready for what Kiokure had up his sleeve.

"This will take all my Chakra. But if it makes me a Chuunin, and makes Master Gaara proud, I'll do all it takes." Kiokure thought. He took a handful of sand from his ninja bag and placed it on the ground. He then performed many hand seals, and from the ground, again, came a massive amount of sand.

"Great Sandstorm Jutsu!" Called Kiokure as the stone soldiers were trapped in a dome of sand that swirlled around them. Kiokure, looked to be suffering to keep the sandstorm stable, but then suddenly collapsed to the ground.

"Kiokure!" Yelled Naruto in worry. Not thinking, he rushed towards the exhausted child to check his condition. At the same time, the sandstorm dispersed to the ground, revealing the stone soldiers. At first it looked as though they were unharmed, but then crumbled to the ground. The sandstorm was a torrent of cutting blades that sliced all in it's path. "You okay?!"

"I think so." Muttered Kiokure. At once, a male Medical Ninja came to his aid. He used his Healing Jutsu to analyze his problems.

"It seems your Jutsu forces your Chakra out to maintain it's stability. Considering your low Chakra level as a Genin, you can only keep it up as long as ten seconds." The Medical Ninja analyzed.

"It's the strongest Jutsu I have." Kiokure said crestfallen.

"Hey, it's okay, man. The judges'll decide if it's good or not." Naruto said encouragingly.

"That will be decided at the end." Said the Cloud judge. "Arashi will perform next." The brute figure of Arashi stepped forward, while Kiokure and Naruto retreated.

"Alright. No holding back this time." Arashi said confidently. The stone soldiers were reformed as Arashi formed a hand seal, and dark clouds formed around him. "Time to show you my penultimate attack!" He yelled. But before he could reveal the Jutsu, the clouds dispersed. "Just kidding."

"What?!" Nearly everyone in the stadium yelled in dismay and confusion.

"Arashi! What is the meaning of this?!" Called the Stone judge.

"Sorry, guys, I forfeit. It's been a nice run, but the Jounin spot's going nowhere for me." Arashi said, without even a hint of remorse. He fell back to the others.

"Arashi! What was that all about?!" Yelled Naruto.

"Me paying yah back." Arashi explained. "I told yah I was gonna pay you back for it, every single penny. The Chuunin's spots yours if you can beat three guys instead of four. 'Sides, I would've made Jounin with that attack, but I knew that's backstabbing you."

"I didn't ask for that! I would've suggested something like buy me ramen, but that's just going over the bar!" Naruto yelled.

"Nah, even if I did do my attack, I'd make a lousy Jounin. I'd be demoted on my first mission." He replied. Naruto in the end, couldn't fight back.

"Thank you, Arashi." Naruto said.

"Pleasure's all mine."

"The fourth to perform is Tora!" Called the Mist judge. Still not out of his maniacal look, he presented himself in front of the stone soldiers Arashi failed to attack.

"Word of warning, you four better make yourself scarce." Tora spoke out to Naruto and the others. "If you don't, the more the merrier." The judges waved their hand and the barrier protecting the audience dispersed, so that Naruto and the others can protect themselves, at whatever Tora has in store. Naruto made his way to his team.

"What's going on?" Asked Sakura.

"No good." Naruto said taking a seat next to Sakura. As expected, a flow of blood red Chakra flowed around Tora, as he gave an insane scream, that shook the audience. He jumped upwards to the sky, using his Chakra to keep him afloat, and raising his hands to the sky, the red Chakra formed a giant blood red ball to his command.

"Earth Release - Dark Meteor!!!" He screamed, and throwing the "dark meteor", the ball exploded on impact with the arena ground. The force of the Jutsu destroyed everything in the arena floor, including the stone soldiers. The judges were forming hand seals at a quick rate to keep the barrier from being destroyed otherwise, it would be a massacre. When the dark meteor finally gave way, a thick cloud of smoke covered the field.

"What, in the Hokage's name, was that?" Asked Naruto fearing for all his worth.

"My guess, a highly condensed Chakra attack, given the proportions of a meteor." Yamato identified. Then the smoke began to subside, and the audience were astonished to see the arena floor, as ten feet deeper.

"What cruel Chakra." Sakura said with equal fear. On closer inspection, Tora was at the bottom of the pit, breathing heavily, and on closer inspection of his hands, there were many wide spaced cuts on it. Then, Tora gave an insane laugh, which made Naruto all the more fearful.

"I can't top that!" Naruto said despairingly. As his fear swelled, so did his ever longing question: "How do I defeat such madness?" When all hope seemed lost, he began to have a deep feeling swelling inside him. And a burning, desirable voice speaking out to him.

"Use my power." It spoke out. Naruto suddenly realised where this deep feeling was coming from. And deep within the recesses of his mind, he found himself before a huge cage, surrounded by darkness. And from that cage, came deep dark glowing eyes: The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.

"What do you want?" Asked Naruto, as his voice echoed through his mind.

"To assist you to come to your deepest dream: Hokage." The beast called out. "You can't defeat this ninja, without my aid."

"I got a news bulletin for you, fox. I'm not using your power, even if I'm desperate." He replied with anger in his voice.

"Don't be a fool, child. Why reject me, when I can deliver you from this nightmare?"

"Your power will only hurt the ones I love. You already did it once before. And to me, that's unforgivable!" He screamed in rage.

"I thought that girl was the enemy. If I'd known you'd end up this way about me, I'd never had lain a claw on her."

"I don't care what you thought! What you did stands against everything I want to become. I want to protect all those I care about, and using your power isn't a way of doing that! And if that means throwing away this one chance to become a Chuunin, I'd take losing to Tora a thousand times over!" Once Naruto had ended his speech, the Demon Fox, retreated into the sanctuary of his cage.

"You'll regret it, boy!" It said as it left Naruto. Naruto closed his eyes for a brief moment. He could hear a voice calling out his name. When he opened his eyes again, he was back at the arena stand. The person calling his name was Sakura.

"Naruto! Are you alright?!" Sakura said in worry.

"Oh, ummmm, yeah, fine, just freaked out by Tora's attack." Naruto lied. On the realisation of his surroundings, Shizune was there too.

"Naruto, I needed to talk to you on an urgent matter." Shizune said.

"I'm all ears." Naruto said in confusion.

"What I'm about to tell you is directly from Lady Tsunade's behalf." She took a moment to collect herself, Then when she was ready: "Naruto, if you find yourself in a troubling situation by Stage 4, I permit you to use Wind Release - Rasenshuriken." The information ran through Naruto's head like a stream.

"Mind running that through me again?" Naruto asked. Shizune took a deep breathe and sighed.

"Lady Tsunade has given me the secondary task of being her messenger. She has asked me to inspect the competition, and if by chance there is a Jutsu more powerful than your lesser Rasengan, she is giving you one chance to perform Wind Release - Rasenshuriken." She explained, as she remembered Tsunade calling her back when Naruto and Sakura went to train the previous day. Naruto still looked in confusion.

"Mostly I should be excited that I'm finally performing my best Jutsu." Naruto said without happiness. "But, it destroys my body, doesn't it?" But unexpectingly, Sakura intervened.

"Not if you use these." She said, presenting her gloves she wears in combat.

"You want me to wear your gloves?" Naruto asked in a stupid way. Sakura punched him in the head.

"They're not just gloves, you moron!" She yelled before calming down. "They're Chakra encoded gloves. Their design is to minimize the damage done by your hands. I use them when punching, since the momentum of my attack will damage my hands." Naruto took the gloves.

"Sakura, you're amazing! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!" Naruto said in joy and happiness. "Can I keep these?"

"No you will not!" Sakura said in a high tone. "I want them back when you're done. That's if you don't destroy them in the process." Naruto had already gotten round to putting the gloves on his hands.

"Don't worry, Sakura. I'll make sure not to completely destroy them. Oh, and Shizune, thank you." Naruto said while smiling happily. Shizune bowed her head while smiling back.

"Good luck." Sai encouraged.

"And remember, perform the technique as quickly as possible, otherwise it will lose stability and disperse, and when the attack is made, fall back immediately." Yamato reminded.

"Got it." Naruto said. He made his way back out to the remade field, with the four waiting for him. Tora still giving him a horrid look. No longer freaked out, he stared back.

"Naruto Uzumaki. The final Jutsu goes to you." Announced the Leaf judge. Naruto took a deep breathe when staring at the twenty soldiers. He formed a hand seal.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He yelled and called forth three Shadow Clones. "You want to see a Jutsu? I'll give you a Jutsu!" The three huddled into a circle. The real Naruto opened his palm, one Clone used both hands to circle the Chakra into it's form, while the other began mixing the Wind Chakra into the Chakra ball. While this was taking place, a large ringing was being made from the Jutsu, intruguing the other four.

"What is he doing?" Asked Kenran.

"It better be good." Arashi said. Soon Naruto's Jutsu was starting to take form. And after a few more seconds, Naruto held up a large Shuriken shaped ball of Chakra that swirled horizontally.

"Wind Release - Rasenshuriken!!!"

"Incredible!" Thought Kiokure.

"What is that?!" Thought Tora seriously. Knowing how long the Jutsu will last, he took action immediately. Him and the two clones ran towards the centre soldier, as the two clones kicked it into the air, and was wide open to Naruto's attack. He plunged the Shuriken into it. The Rasenshuriken took full effect as all twenty of the stone soldiers were forced backwards and sucked into it's full effects. Naruto jumped back and watched as all twenty were trapped in the giant ball and being cut at incalculable numbers. After a minute or so with the amazing attack, the ball flashed, and all that were left of the stone soldiers was nothing more than rubble, that fell to the bottom of the evenly-sized crater he created. Naruto, puffing for every last breathe, inspected the glove Sakura gave him, and sure enough, a large portion was ripped off from it's effects. But in all honesty, the attack was really minimized, as his hand wasn't even scratched. The audience were just as stunned with the last performance and clapped. They gave a standing ovation to the last performing ninja, as he waved to them. Even Kenran, Kiokure and Arashi clapped admirably.

"I don't know how he did it, but man, that attack was good stuff." Arashi commented. The judges deliberated towards themselves, discussing who is worthy of the crowning champion. During this time, the barrier to the audience stand was lifted, and Naruto's team went to congratulate him.

"That was amazing, Naruto!" Sakura applauded with happiness.

"Truly a remarkable technique." Sai said.

"You did very good, Naruto." Yamato said happily. "How's your hand?"

"Couldn't be better." He said with a smile, showing them Sakura's destroyed glove. She didn't take it well and punched Naruto in the jaw.

"You idiot! It's gonna take me weeks to fix that!" Sakura yelled angrily.

"I-I-I'm sorry, Sakura!" Naruto said, while crawling backwards away from the angry Sakura. "I'll make it up to you, I swear!" But before Sakura could unleash her wrath, the judge's had cleared their throat for everyone's attention. At once, Naruto presented himself, along with the other ninja to the judges.

"After much deliberation, we have reached a decision. One of you will be crowned the champion and be promoted to your next level." Spoke out the Leaf judge.

"Kenran, your powers are worthwhile, and are recognised as one of the best as a Chuunin from the Hidden Mist Village, but not well enough on certain terrains. Mountains, for example." Said the Mist judge. Kenran pouted.

"Kiokure, your good use of Jutsu is good at your level, however, you have difficulty controlling your emotions and therefore your techniques are affected." Said the Sand judge.

"Arashi, you're Lightning abilites are second to one: The Raikage. However, you put your personal matters before Shinobi matters, which cost you your Jounin spot." Said the Cloud judge.

"Tora. Your abilities are senseless and destructive. Such abilities need controlling before it can be called forth in battle, or you endanger those you wish to protect. If you wish to call yourself a Jounin, and teach Genin of your own, you must teach them the ways of the Shinobi, not destruction." The Stone judge said harshly.

"And Naruto. You show impressive display of Shadow Clones and the Fourth Hokage's Jutsu: Rasengan. You show very good use in saving comrades in times of need, and are unafraid of death in the face of battle. Such characteristics is questionable at the level of a Genin." The Leaf judge said. "It is with this, you will be made the Hidden Leaf's newest Chuunin." At the mention of this, Naruto's body went numb with anticipation, but jumped up, punching his fist in the air with success, with the audience cheering away. He shook the hands of his three new companions, but when looking at Tora, he had a look of absolute defeat.

"But...how? My Shinobi tactics are the best in my Village!" Tora said in confusion. Naruto walked up to him.

"A Shinobi's way isn't destruction, Tora. It's about using your power, to protect and benefit those you care about. The last Jutsu I used, was made to protect the bonds that I made." Naruto explained.

"A Shinobi's...bonds?" Said Tora. Naruto smiled, and Tora smiled in ease. "Then as of today, you will be my first bond. Congratulations on your success." He offered him a hand to shake.

"I know in your next Exam, you'll make Jounin easily." Naruto said, and shook his hand. Tora turned away to start his journey home.

"Out of everyone here, I will not forget you, Naruto Uzumaki." Tora said, and looked back at him. "Enjoy being a Chuunin." And with that, Tora departed as Sakura, jumped on Naruto, giving him a celebration hug, and at the same time, punching his chest due to her interrupted rage. He recieved many congratulations from Yamato, Shizune and Sai. Then, Naruto walked forth, as a trophy was presented to Naruto in succession of the Remediation. After a while of more celebrations, Naruto, Sakura, Sai, Yamato and Shizune headed back for the Hidden Leaf Village, it was nearing sunset and their destination wasn't far.

"You know." Yamato spoke out. "I feel like walking."

"Do we have to?!" Naruto whined. "As the new Chuunin, I say we go as fast as we can."

"And as Jounin, we say we walk!" Yamato and Shizune said simultaneously. Naruto sunk his head lower.

"I wish I were a Jounin." Naruto said despressingly. "But, beggers can't be choosers. Let's get this overwith." The five-man team took nearly three hours walking back, journeying across the Fire Country.

"D'yah think I can have one of them cool Chuunin jackets?" Asked Naruto during the last stages of their cross-country, walking across a familiar part of the forest.

"No way! I can't imagine you wearing one of those." Sakura said trying not to imagine that fact.

"Don't Chuunin always wear those?" Asked Sai.

"Only to make yourself look cool." Naruto said justifying himself. It was soon that Naruto came across the gates entering the Hidden Leaf Village, it was now night time, and Naruto was getting tired. But, before Naruto can race back to his house, at the gates was none other than Tsunade.

"Well? How did you do?" She asked sternly.

"Naruto had to use the Rasenshuriken's power, my lady." Shizune said while bowing her head. Tsunade gave a serious look.

"Is Naruto's hand hurt?" She asked even more seriously.

"Thankfully, no. He wore Sakura's glove that absorbed the damage that would have been inflicted." Shizune replied. Tsunade sighed in relief.

"And the outcome. Did Naruto achieve his goal?" She asked. Naruto gave a grim look, but immediately grinned, presenting his victory trophy. The Hokage smiled.

"Very good." She said happily. "Now we celebrate!" And with that she walked back into the village.

"Celebrate?" Asked the three Chuunin. The five followed the Hokage to a courtyard where there stood a long table, stretching from one end of the courtyard to the other, all laid out with food and drinks, a banner that hung across two buildings reading: "Congratulations, Naruto!", and what was better: all of Naruto's friends had gathered, including Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Lee, Neji, Tenten, Gai, Kurenai (Which was remarkable because Naruto rarely seen her nowadays.), Kakashi, Iruka, Konohamaru and his team, and even all those who rarely knew Naruto as much, such as the former Ino-Shika-Cho squad, Ibiki, Anko, Kotetsu and Izumo. Naruto, Sakura and Sai were astonished.

"Surprise!" Yelled everyone, including Tsunade, Yamato and Shizune.

"You had something to do with this?!" Yelled Naruto and Sakura towards Yamato and Shizune.

"Well, I knew there would be a celebration, so just to be sure, I decided for us to walk." Yamato explained. But despite this, Naruto smiled.

"I can't believe you guys." Said Naruto happily. And soon the celebrations began. With music echoing through the night sky, a bonfire roaring away in the middle of the courtyard, and everyone sitting at the table helping themselves to what they pleased, and listening to Naruto's tale of what happened. "...Well at first I thought I was supposed to do what Kenran, Arashi and Kiokure had to do, Summon my toad and beat up the rock dude, but they had me fight Tora's summon." At that mention, there were many gasps, and a few muttering.

"Did you defeat him?" Asked Rock Lee with amusement.

"Are you kidding? Me and Gamabunta smashed that scorpion's tail so hard, he'll feel it again the next day!" Naruto replied, with everyone laughing and clapping at his victory with Gamabunta.

"Here's to Naruto!" Iruka piped up, raising a sake bottle. "And may his dream of becoming Hokage burn forever. To Naruto!" Everyone else raised an assortment of glasses, ranging from sake to regular fizzy juices.

"To Naruto." Everyone yelled, including Sakura and Sai, and in Naruto's name, they continued celebrating. For Naruto, the bonds he created with his allies couldn't be stronger.


End file.
